10 Things iHate About You
by ClashingColoursChasingRainbows
Summary: When Freddie is given an essay to write entitled "What is Love?" for English class, how will he react when he reads his work aloud and finally realises how he feels for a certain blonde headed demon? Better description enclosed, Seddie of course!
1. Introduction

**Summary **- When Freddie is given an essay to write entitled "What is Love?" how will he react when he reads his work aloud to his English class and finally realises how he feels for a certain blonde headed demon?

**Disclaimer **- I don't own iCarly. I also don't own the rights to Firefly, Pushing Daisies or Freaks and Geeks, because if I did they would have NEVER BEEN CANCELLED. Ahem. On with the story...

**A / N** - New story, wahoo! *dances* I hope you guys like it! So this is how it's going to work - after this chapter, every chapter will start with a line from Freddie's essay, "What is love?" and the chapter will then describe a scene between Sam and Freddie relating to that line; there will also be a month, year, and how old they are at the time the scene is set, so you know what's going on in the grand scheme of things (Does that make sense?)

A big massive HUGE thank you to SeddieBenett and the lovely (seddie is epic 73) for co-betaing, and to my girl Forwoodx3 for all the support and words of encouragement, you guys are AWESOME SAUCE! Here we go, I give you 10 Things iHate About You! *cue flare guns*

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><p>Freddie looked up from his extensive notes as the bell rang, signalling the end of class and the conclusion of a long Friday afternoon. Like the rest of his peers, he began packing up his books and assorted pieces of stationary, stuffing his copy of <em>Romeo <em>_and __Juliet_ as far into his bag as he could, hoping it would never see the light of day again. He had never looked forward to a weekend so much in his life; a blissful two days of hanging out with Carly and Sam, planning the next iCarly together and possibly playing on the new World of Warcraft expansion pack. Speaking of his favourite blonde, he glanced over at Sam, who had started sitting next to him in English class since the start of junior year. She was fast asleep, with her head slumped on the desk and her arms lying across the front with her hands hanging off the edge; the only sign of life being the soft sound of her breathing. Freddie shook his head and smiled. Of course.

"Before you go, everyone," Miss Jones, the class' teacher called out, "A small piece of homework for the weekend."

A collective groan went around the room, and Miss Jones let out a small chuckle before quickly saying, "Don't worry, it's not going to be worth anything on your final grade. To link up with our work on Shakespeare, I just want you all to write a piece entitled 'What is love?' for our class on Monday; it can be an essay, a poem, whatever you like. I may ask a few of you to read your pieces aloud, so be prepared. See everyone then!"

Freddie sighed, and picked up his bag to leave the class. Of course he would get an essay in the last lesson of the day; it seemed his relaxing weekend now had some minor road bumps before he could enjoy his carefully organised plans of doing, well, absolutely nothing.

Grinning at Sam's current state, he nudged her leg with his foot, causing her to lazily open one eye at look up at him.

"Class over?" she murmered almost incoherently.

"Why else would I be waking you up?" Freddie joked, to which Sam replied with a half smile and an over-exaggerated sigh. She slowly sat herself up, stretched, and grabbed her bag, before getting up to stand next to Freddie.

"Did I miss anything exciting?" she asked as they wandered out of the room, their sides bumping against each other amiably.

"Well, we have to do this piece of homework on-"

"NYEAH."

"Come on, Sam, this stuff is important!"

"I asked for something exciting, not important, nub," Sam told Freddie sarcastically, as she reached into her bag and pulled out a fat cake, "How on earth is homework exciting?"

"We have to write an essay or poem on what we think love is," Freddie replied quickly, ignoring her previous comment. This outburst caused Sam's head to snap up and look at him in surprise, momentarily distracted from her beloved fat cake, which consequently made Freddie's own face flush slightly. Why was he blushing, he thought to himself, confused, it wasn't like he and Sam hadn't talked about love before. Just yesterday they had been bantering with Carly about the tragic tale of Romeo and Juliet. Whilst their brunette friend had found to whole thing incredibly romantic, Sam and Freddie had rolled their eyes and scoffed at the pair of love birds. Was that really what love was, they had discussed, chuckling, wanting to kill yourself if you couldn't be with person of your dreams? It had all seemed rather morbid to them.

Freddie glanced back to Sam at this point, and tried to imagine his life without the crazy blonde headed demon, not that he was comparing them to Romeo and Juliet, of course, just because he was curious. It would be different, he couldn't deny that, and he was sure he would be able to find some way to go on without her, but would he want to? He'd miss her pranks, her dry wit and sarcastic humour, not to mention her constant need for food and insane, completely random, well, Sam-ness for lack of a better word. Smiling to himself, Freddie shook his head at this odd thought; when would he ever have to live a life without Sam? He was almost certain that he was now officially stuck with her for the rest of his life; she'd be his or Carly's lazy room-mate at college, and the crazy aunt to his kids. No, he wouldn't be losing her any time soon, a fact that not only didn't surprise him but also rather pleased him; because what kind of life would he have without Sam?

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><p>"Oh," Sam said softly, looking down at her shoes awkwardly. When had talking to Freddie about homework become so awkward, she thought nervously, they had talked about love before, right? Except back then, it was usually about Freddie's undying love for their best friend, Carly, and for the past few years discussing that with the nub had made her stomach churn; the suicidal birds inside it going crazy, though she had no idea why. Thankfully, his confessions of love had died down recently. In fact, they were pretty much non-existent now.<p>

"OK," said Sam, coming out of her thoughts and trying to change the subject, "Well, you knew I was never going to do that."

"Yeah, I know," Freddie babbled, wanting to diffuse whatever weird tension was going on between them, "But I thought I'd let you know anyway, just in case. People can change, Puckett, believe it or not."

Sam laughed, and before stuffing the fat cake in her mouth, replied, "Not me, Benson, change is definitely not on the table for me."

Freddie laughed with her, glad to have returned to their usual banter, and began arguing with Sam about the importance of school and the future while she yelled random names of different meat products in an attempt to change the topic. He wouldn't have it any other way.

Freddie waved goodbye to Carly as he opened his front door and walked through, slamming it shut behind him and tossing his keys on the table. The trio usually did some brain-storming for the web show after school, but Sam had to drive her mum to the doctor's office (Freddie really didn't want to know the reason why) and Carly and he had tons of homework to do for Monday.

Freddie was glad his mother wasn't home yet to demand he take his weekly tick bath, as it gave him the chance to get a head start on his English essay before she got back from her shift at the hospital and began her cleanliness rampage in all her crazy glory. Slumping down at his desk, Freddie got out a pad and pen and got ready to blitz through the piece of work as quickly as he could, but the more he thought about the essay question the more engrossed in the work he became. What was love? And who should he base his work on - his mother, crazy though she may be, he definitely did love her. He briefly thought of his best friend Carly, but quickly dismissed that thought; he hadn't thought of her like that for years now, and whatever feelings he had had for her had now transformed from an innocent school boy crush to completely platonic, almost sisterly love.

He loved Spencer; in a manly, older brother kind of way, but writing an essay about that crossed many strange barriers he never thought he'd ever reach. As Freddie listed through the other people in his life in search of a possible candidate for his essay, Gibby (too weird) T-Bo (even weirder) Nevel (the level of weird just flew right off the scale) his mind couldn't help but wander back to a certain beautiful blonde he had been trying to eradicate from his thoughts all afternoon. Finally giving in to himself, he considered the possibility - writing an essay about Sam and, love? Scoffing to himself, Freddie quickly decided to write a general piece on love instead and had soon hunkered down and got to work, all the while ignoring the blonde headed demon that was currently running through his thoughts, refusing to give up her rightful place in his mind and, though he would never admit it, in his heart.

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><p><strong>A  N - **There it is, sorry it's so short! I have to apologise now for what will be my infrequent updates, as I do have school and other crazy commitments to keep up with, but I promise to try and upload a new chapter at least once a week - bear with me guys! Let me know what your favourite pars were or what you liked, or disliked, by reviewing... Until next time, Adios!

Please Review, Click the Blue!

~ Mim


	2. Chapter 1: Pranks and Propositions

**Summary **- When Freddie is given an essay to write entitled "What is Love?" how will he react when he reads his work aloud to his English class and finally realises how he feels for a certain blonde headed demon?

**Disclaimer** - iCarly's not mine. I know, sucks to be me. :P

**A/N - **I know, it's been a whole week since the last chapter, I was going to upload this a few days ago but I went away and *enter long and very heartfelt apology here* But hey, it's only been 7 days, so I kept to my promise! (Please don't kill me...!) THANK YOU to everyone who favourite-ed and story alert-ed, and a big hug and kisses to KittiesOnTheDarkSide, purpleAM138, Tomboy22, OceanCrush, TwinNumber1-Kaily, irishfan62, Quinn, President ORB, lulu halulu, Poopy cool, Forwoodx3, DannySamLover20, jessicalove24 and visciousboar for reviewing - 14 reviews for one chapter is AMAZING, and I love you guys for it!

Quinn - Your Number 1 fan medal, banner and trophy are on their way in the post as I type. :p And thank you, that means a lot!

Poopy cool - Yes, it is long. The longest I've ever seen, for sure - my username, that is. :P (sorry for that inappropriate and unneeded innuendo...! I TAKE IT ALL BACK!)

So, without further adieu, I give you Chapter 1!

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><p><em>When <em>_you __love __someone, __you__'__d __do __anything __for __them, __even __if __it__'__s __completely __crazy __- __you __do __it __because __you __care __and __want __them __to __be __happy._

**Sophomore Year - February (15 years old)**

"What the chiz is going on, Carly?" Sam asked her best friend worriedly as she marched up to her in the hallway of Ridgeway High, her eyes filling with concern, "I just heard from Wendy that Freddie got sent to see Principal Franklin during Algebra; is he OK?"

Carly looked at her friend in surprise, as she wasn't usually one to jump to Freddie's bed side the minute he was in trouble. Sam noticed her shock, and quickly tried to cover up sudden turn to the concerned side.

"There's been a bunch of rumours flying around saying he's been suspended, which I know can't be true. That nub couldn't get suspended even if he tried," she said in an offhand-ish attitude, trying to cover up her uneasiness about the situation. The truth was that she was worried about Freddie; she knew his mother would kill him if he got suspended, and however fun that would have been to watch, his dreams of attending MIT would be crushed forever. She was his friend, well, kind of, right? She had the right, nay, the privilege to worry about nerd. It was what friends, however obscure the relationship may be, did for each other.

Carly sighed, and shook her head slightly, smiling sadly, "No, he hasn't been suspended," she heard Sam let out a breath of relief, "But he has got detention after school for the next month because he apparently admitted to pulling some prank, and that makes absolutely no sense. Freddie's never pulled a prank before in his life."

"Maybe the dork finally took Mama's advice," Sam grinned at Carly, though it was quickly replaced with a sombre expression after a death stare from her brunette friend.

"This is serious, Sam. We have to go and find out who really pulled that prank so we can clear his name! I just don't get why he owned up to doing it when he so obviously didn't."

Sam forced out a heavy sigh, but agreed to play Nancy Drew with Carly to find out who had framed Freddie, or forced him to confess for a prank he hadn't done, "So what prank did he claim to have committed?"

"Apparently, he managed to get Ms. Briggs' car into her classroom, though I have no idea how, and had spray painted 'Sucker!' over the front window. I propose we start with the AV club-"

As Carly rambled on about who they should interview first about the mystery of the magical moving car, Sam's face turned pale and her mouth hung open in shock, as her brain tried to comprehend what Carly had just said.

"Where is he?" Sam asked, cutting off Carly's plan of action.

"Who, Freddie? I think he's waiting outside Principal Franklin's office for his mum to come in. She is not going to be happy-," Carly told Sam, but before she could finish her sentence Sam had run off down the hall in the direction of the principal's office without so much as a goodbye. Carly shook her head slightly, confused about what had just happened. Was Sam going to try and defend Freddie from Ms. Briggs? Carly smiled slightly at the thought of this, as she wanted to see nothing more than Sam and Freddie admitting to their ever growing friendship; they were no longer the sworn enemies they often claimed to be. Carly just hoped that Sam didn't kill their teacher whilst defending her 'nub's' honour, because she'd definitely get suspended for that. Then again, Principal Franklin never did like Ms. Briggs…

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><p>Sam rushed towards the principal's office, her converses thudding harder into the floor with each step, the rhythm matching that of her fast paced heart beat. She couldn't let him do it; there was no way that stupid dork was going to take the blame for this elaborate, yet brilliant prank when Sam knew who the true culprit was.<p>

"Freddie!" she yelled to him as she entered the waiting area for the principal's office, her breath slowly returning to normal. Freddie looked up at Sam, both shock and fear appearing in his eyes at the blonde headed demon in front of him glared at him.

"We need to talk," she growled, "Now."

"But Sam, I can't, I've got to wait-"

Sam didn't let Freddie finish his sentence; she quickly marched up to him, grabbed him by his collar and dragged him out the door leading to the courtyard outside.

"What the fat cake, Benson?" she shouted at Freddie once they had gotten outside, releasing his collar and turning to face him; her eyes glowing red with anger, "Why did you take the blame for that prank? The prank that I spent months brainstorming and planning before executing it last night, without any hitches might I add."

"I was hoping you wouldn't find out," Freddie said, sighing slightly,

"Wouldn't find out," Sam scoffed at him, "It's all over the school - Freddie Benson pulls prank of the century and gets a month of detention for his fine work."

"Well it would have been a lot worse for you if they had found out who the real culprit was, Sam," Freddie angrily replied, not believing how ungrateful she was being.

"I don't need you to fight my battles for me, nub," Sam responded defensively, "And besides, Mama practically lives in detention anyway."

"They were going to suspend you, Sam," Freddie shouted suddenly, causing Sam to look up at him in surprise, "I overhead Ms. Briggs in the teacher's lounge. She said she had had enough of your 'insolent behaviour,' and was going to get rid of you once and for all."

Sam opened her mouth slightly as if to respond, but then closed it, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. Freddie had taken the credit, no, the blame for the prank _she_ had committed to stop her from getting suspended, even though it meant he would get a month of detention and an earful from his psychotic mother?

"You mean you took the blame, for me?" she asked quietly, looking at her shoes awkwardly. How does one respond when the nub they had supposedly hated since they had known each other, who she tormented on a daily basis, did something like this?

Freddie's face flushed slightly, and he too looked down at his shoes, before softly replying, "Yeah."

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><p>Upon first hearing Ms. Briggs' evil scheme whilst walking past the teacher's lounge, Freddie was unsure about how to respond. Should he tell Sam, and hope she came up with an alibi in time, or inform Carly and go with her to beg Principal Franklin to give their best friend, yes he'd finally admitted it, another chance. Finally, he knew what he had to do, to keep Sam in school and protect her from Ms. Briggs' wicked clutches, even if it was the craziest and certainly the most unruly, un-Freddie thing he had ever done. But he would do it anyway, because it was for Sam. She may have been a blonde headed demon to him in most respects, but she was first and foremost his friend, and he would do anything, well, almost anything, to try and keep her from falling even further into the black hole that was her failing academic career. Anything to keep her happy.<p>

"But why'd you do it?" Sam asked, genuinely interested in his answer, as his noble act made absolutely no sense to her.

Freddie sighed and bit his lip, as if contemplating his answer, before saying, "Because it would go on your already tarnished permanent record, and if you ever decided to go to college-"

"I'm not going to college, nub," Sam cut in a monotone voice.

"But you could, Sam, I know you could if you tried. And who knows, maybe you'll have changed your mind by the time we get there, and if you do, you won't have some stupid prank you pulled three years ago hanging over your head," Freddie said wholeheartedly, trying to catch Sam's eyes while she skilfully avoided his. "And anyway," Freddie added, smiling, "I'd miss hanging out with you at school."

Sam looked up at his grinning face, and the corners of her lips jumped up to return the smile, "Yeah?"

"Definitely. My life would be too weird without you being around to torment me on a daily basis."

Sam laughed, causing Freddie's smile to grow even bigger, but her happy chuckling soon died down as a more serious look took over her face.

"Are you sure, Benson?" she asked, her voice breaking ever so slightly as her nervousness shone through. Freddie was about to make a huge sacrifice for her, and before he went any further she was going to make damn sure that he wouldn't regret it in the long run.

Freddie smiled at her, and nodded slightly, "I'm sure."

"But what about your bat-chiz crazy mum, she'll go ballistic when she-"

"I'll handle it Sam, don't worry," Freddie cut Sam's rambling off gently, causing her to finally give in to her temptation and stare fully into his eyes. It was then that she noticed the determination and purpose that filled his chocolate coloured orbs, and she realised that he was completely serious about doing this. Doing this massive favour for her, Samantha Puckett; the evil mastermind behind most of his distress; the Joker to his Batman; the Lex Luthor to his Superman - one of his best and closest friends; his first kiss. Slowly, she nodded, finally accepting Freddie's generous offer.

Freddie spotted this gesture, and understood what she was trying to say without her even needing to form words; Sam Puckett was far too proud to let some nub fight her battles for her, but just this once Freddie had persuaded her that it was the right thing to do.

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><p>"So how'd you do it," Freddie asked suddenly, attempting to fill the empty yet comfortable silence and distract Sam from over-thinking the wager that had just occurred between them.<p>

"Huh?" she said absentmindedly.

"Get the car into the classroom; it's been bugging me all morning. How the heck did you pull this one off, Sam?"

Sam grinned at him knowingly and twirled around, sauntering off towards the door, "That's for me to know and you to wonder about forevermore, Frednub."

Freddie jogged after her and caught her arm, spinning her round with a force she hadn't though possible from his weakling arms, "Come on," he said, grinning, "I wanna know, I am taking the blame for it after all."

Sam sighed overdramatically, but her smile never left her face, "I'm never going to live this down, am I?"

"Nope," Freddie quipped, "Spill it, Puckett."

"Well," she started, raising an eyebrow and smirking, "I had some help from a friend of mine."

"Anyone I know?"

"Doubt it, seeing as it was my cousin Ernie; he's a mechanic. We snuck over to Ms. Briggs' house, 'borrowed' her car, drove to school, took it apart, brought the parts inside and fixed it up again in the classroom."

Freddie raised his eyebrows in surprise at the complexity of the prank, and gushed, "That's brilliant, Sam," before he could stop himself. He then mentally kicked himself about how much chiz he would get for that comment later on. Sam did a little bow in response to Freddie's remark, before heading back to the door to enter the building once again.

Halting in her tracks, Sam paused as if contemplating something; she then turned around, smiled at Freddie and gently nudged his shoulder with her fist, before murmuring, "Thanks Benson. You know, for everything."

He returned the smile, his lips turning upwards in his signature smirk, wondering how on earth he had managed to get this unruly blonde whirlwind to finally show some gratitude towards him. Maybe he should take the blame for her pranks more often - at least he'd get to spend more time with her in their many shared sessions of detention. "Any time, Puckett," he replied warmly, gazing wonderingly at Sam as the background behind her faded into a blur of swirls and colours, "Anytime."

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><p><strong>AN** - There it is, slightly longer and more substantial chapter than the last - did you love it / hate it? Let me know your favourite (or least favourite!) parts by reviewing, I'll give you a cookie and my first born child if you do (OK, maybe not the cookie... :P) I actually stole the prank Sam pulled from an episode of Drake and Josh (kudos to those you already knew that!) so thanks Dan for that plot point, (and for that awesome show!) The next chapter will be up by no longer than the end of next week, but will hopefully by uploaded in a few days. Until next time, my friends!

Please Review, Click the blue!

~ Mim


	3. Chapter 2: Dates and Douchebags

**Summary **- When Freddie is given an essay to write entitled "What is Love?" how will he react when he reads his work aloud to his English class and finally realises how he feels for a certain blonde headed demon?

**Disclaimer - **I don't own iCarly - BUT IT COMES BACK NEXT WEEK SO EVERYTHING IS GOOD IN THE WORLD AGAIN, WAHOO!

**A/N - **Guys, look at how fast I updated, and look at how long it is! I'm expecting some loving in return *wiggles eyebrows suggestively* (but seriously, reviews are much loved and always welcomed!) An ENORMOUS thank you to SeddieBenett and Forwoodx3 (and to seddieisepic - SURPRISE NEW CHAPTER!) and to my lovely reviewers, Danielle, Quinn, pinkworlds, YouKnowYouHeartSeddie, irishfan, purpleAM138, KittiesOnTheDarkSide, DannySamLover20, Tomboy22 and Nola (YAY the lovely Nola is back! *hugs*) OH and visciousboar, who is amazing and awesome sauce. I know owe ten of you my first born child... well this is awkward. Splitsies?

So, read, enjoy, and I hope you guys like it!

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><p><em>They drive you mad sometimes, and can do the unforgivable, but you come around eventually because you can't bear to be without them, and sometimes they really are just doing it for your own good; even if you couldn't see it at the time. <em>

**Sophomore Year - May (16 years old)**

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><p>The doorbell. That sound was all it took to make Freddie jump up from the Shay household's sofa, his eyes widening with nervousness as his heart started beating four times as fast from both excitement what felt like sheer terror. She was here.<p>

"Carly," he squeaked, before clearing his voice and attempted to speak again, this time in a voice that didn't make him sound like a seven year old girl, "Carly, she's here!"

Carly squealed excitedly from her bedroom, before quickly running down the stairs to where Freddie was anxiously waiting her final approval. She gave him the once over, dusted off his shirt slightly and ruffled his hair, grinning at his worried expression and uneasy stature.

"Relax," she said in a reassuring voice, hoping to stop Freddie from sweating right through his fancy new shirt with fear, "She's going to love you."

Freddie smiled slightly at his best friend, but couldn't ignore the butterflies running, or rather flying, amok in his already slightly queasy stomach. Even though he claimed to still be head over heels in love with Carly, or at least he thought he was, (he was sixteen, how was he supposed to know what love was?) being in this close proximity to her didn't seem to affect him in the slightest; all he could think about was the girl waiting on the other side of the door, anticipating what the evening could bring for him and his rather surprising date.

"Like anyone could love that nub," a voice called from the kitchen, startling Freddie out of his thoughts, and soon after a petite blonde gnawing her way through a large ham entered the living room, which had been temporarily converted into a romantic venue for Freddie and his guest. "I just hope you wore that extra strong deodorant your crazy mum bought you for your birthday, Freddicini, you don't want to scare the poor little Barbie away with your 'oh natural' stench."

Freddie rolled his eyes at Sam's less than flattering comment, but grinned at her afterwards, strangely glad that his abrasive friend was here to distract him from his nerves with a bit of light banter. Though he was wary of Sam being present during the date at first, who knew what kind of stunt she'd pull, her presence always seemed to put him at ease, even if she was beating him with a butter sock at the time. He'd gotten used to having Sam around, so much so that the pranks she pulled and even the random attacks of violence were no longer a surprise. At some times in his mundane life, filled with homework and tick baths, Freddie even welcomed the craziness that followed the blonde headed demon around like a lost puppy; Sam always did manage to keep his life interesting, to say the least.

Sam smirked back, though she couldn't help but feel her stomach churn at the sight of Freddie all dolled up for his date. A date with Tiffany Harper, one of the stupidest, most annoying girls at their school; she didn't even know what Freddie saw in that fake, plastic bimbo, and even though Sam had told him time and time again that she feared Tiffany was only using him to get on iCarly and "be the next web sensation," Freddie hadn't listened to her. Whenever Tiffany was around Freddie or Carly, she turned into a sickly sweet little schoolgirl, who complimented Carly's new shoes and laughed at all of Freddie's really bad science jokes.

Of course, the minute their backs were turned she reformed back into her natural self; the bitchy queen of mean who could have given Regina George a run for her money, and it seemed only Sam had ever seen this side of her before. Even with her fake pleasant persona, Sam still couldn't see how Freddie could be attracted to a girl like that; he actually seemed to like the pounds of make-up and fake tanned orange skin; the short skirts and the high heels. Tiffany was everything that Sam was not, and though she knew it shouldn't upset her, it did hurt that Freddie had chosen a date with the lovechild of Barbie and the devil instead of listening to her genuinely concerned advice. Nobody hurt that stupid, dorky, completely-oblivious-to-Tiffany's-evil-scheme and extremely idiotic nub but her.

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><p>"Come on, Sam," Carly sighed at her best girl friend, "This is a big night for Freddie, he's been wanting to date Tiffany for weeks now, couldn't you be nice to him just this once?"<p>

"Sam, nice?" another voice emerged from the kitchen, and a young boy in a waiter's outfit joined his friends by the sofa, "That will be the day!"

"No-one asked you, Gibby," Sam shouted, causing the grinning Gibby to cower away from the girl who was almost half his size, his grin falling from his face faster than a speeding bullet. He learnt very early on in his life to never judge Sam by her looks; she was strong, and she wasn't afraid to show it.

The doorbell rang again, twice and slightly more impatiently than the first time, and Freddie turned to look at Carly once again, the fear returning to his eyes.

"Go and get the door," Carly said firmly as she took charge of the situation before Freddie's head exploded, pushing him gently towards the front of her apartment, "Gibby will be waiting in the kitchen for further instructions, and me and Sam will be upstairs brainstorming for the next iCarly if you need anything. Just have fun, OK?"

Freddie nodded, and gulped deeply, before heading to the door and getting ready to open it. He paused and his hand hovered over the doorknob, before he turned quickly around to face Sam, his eyes narrowing slightly, "You're not going to do anything, right Sam?" he asked suspiciously, as he suddenly remembered Sam's feelings towards the girl he was about to let into Carly's apartment. She had been treating him like more of a friend and less of a punching bag since the car incident at school, (well, to some extent - it was Sam after all) when he had taken the wrap for her ingenious yet somewhat illegal prank on Ms. Briggs, but ever since Freddie had shown an interest in Tiffany, Sam had become even more violent than usual, and Freddie feared for his and Tiffany's life when he thought about all the ways Sam could ruin his big night.

"Relax, Freddimama," Sam sighed overdramatically, "You and Cindy are safe from my pranking hands tonight,"

"It's Tiffany, Sam, you know that. It's just that you weren't exactly happy about me and her-"

"JUST ANSWER THE FREAKING DOOR, WOULD YA?" she yelled, before running up the stairs after Carly. He glared at her, but couldn't help but chuckle as she turned around, gave him a mock salute and a sarcastic 'thumbs up' signal before running up the remainder of the staircase. Shaking his head slightly at Sam's antics, Freddie opened the door to find Tiffany staring into a handheld mirror, fixing her already pristine make up.

She certainly looked pretty, with her bleach blonde hair straightened and make-up perfectly applied; her short pink dress accenting the assets God gave her and high heels making her look even skinnier than she already was; she was the epitome of every normal teenage boy's dream. Freddie smiled up at her, and quickly welcomed her into the apartment, hoping she wasn't too angry about being left outside for so long. She returned the smile and sauntered in, her beam dropping the minute Freddie had turned around to close the door as she took in each inch of the apartment which a look of mild interest and disdain.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Tiffany," Freddie said, his voice wavering slightly, causing him to close his eyes and mentally slap himself - keep it together, Benson!

Tiffany spun around, her pink lips turning upwards in a dazzling smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, "Oh, that's alright, Freddikins, I know you were just making everything perfect for our date tonight." She brushed her hand against his arm lightly, before turning around and squealing at the sight of the romantic dinner table and candles placed around the room.

"Oh, Freddie, you shouldn't have!" she shrieked, as she walked over to inspect the table further, "Did you cook all this yourself?"

Freddie grinned at her reaction, before replying, "No, actually, this was all the work of the incredibly talented Gibby, he's quite the chef, you know!"

Tiffany turned to look at him, her eyebrows raised in surprise, "Gibby?" she asked, her voice dripping with repulsion and shock, "That weird little kid from our class?"

Freddie frowned slightly, confused by her response; he knew that Gibby was a few feathers short of an ostrich but her tone suggested something other than the friendly teasing Gibby was often subjected to by his friends.

"Yeah," Freddie stated, crossing his arms defensively, "Is that a problem?"

Realising her mistake, Tiffany grinned at him and playfully shoved his chest before letting out a peal of laughter that sounded like a horse's whinny, "Of course not, Gibby is wonderful, and any friend of yours is a friend of mine."

Freddie rubbed the place on his chest where Tiffany had pushed him, oddly upset with her for the gesture and was still unsatisfied by her answer, but he decided to let it go and just have an enjoyable evening with her. He smiled at her slightly, before walking over to her chair and pushing it out so she could sit down.

Gushing about how much of a gentleman he was, Tiffany sat down and took a large drink of water from a conveniently placed cup in front of her, mentally rolling her eyes at the grin on Freddie's face due to her compliments. It was going to be a long night of flattery and shameless flirting with the idiotic nerd, but she was prepared to do anything to get on iCarly; she was going to the next web star even if she had to date her way to the top, and the nerdy technical director sitting across from her was her way in.

* * *

><p>Unbeknown to the pair downstairs, however, Sam peered out from the top of the stair case where she had remained after sprinting away before Tiffany's arrival, completely out of sight, ready to shamelessly spy on Pinky and the Brain throughout their date. She had told Carly she wanted to take a quick nap before they brainstormed for iCarly, which her best friend has happily complied to as she had some homework to get done up in the iCarly studio. From her perch at the top of the stairs, Sam saw and heard the whole exchange between Tiffany and Freddie, and couldn't believe how oblivious the nub was to her fake compliments and terrible acting skills - she was more robotic than Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator.<p>

Seeing Tiffany check her pink, bedazzled watch for the umpteenth time and sigh heavily, before sending a smile in Freddie's direction, Sam shook her head slightly. If Freddie wasn't going to get rid of the little web-show stealing bimbo, Sam had to take matters into her own hands, even if Freddie did hate her for a while afterwards. She hoped he'd forgive her eventually; it was for his own good after all. Smirking evilly, Sam glanced from Freddie to Tiffany before making up her mind for definite. Operation Smurf was officially in action; let the Barbie eradication commence.

"And then," Tiffany continued, effortlessly crossing her legs while demurely forking some spaghetti into her permanently pouted lips, "Kelly went behind Chelsea's back and kissed Damian anyway. Can you believe that?"

"Nope," Freddie replied in a monotone voice, stabbing what was left on his plate uninterestedly. He had been listening to Tiffany gossip about her friends and the various other people at school for about half an hour now, and had had the incorrigible need to yawn since she had started talking about the incestuous ways of the marching band. Fearing the worst, he knew he had to change the subject before he actually fell asleep; head on the table and all.

"So, Tiffany," he interrupted shamelessly and without remorse, "What are some of your interests. I mean, I know you're on the gymnastics team, but do you have any other hobbies?"

Tiffany smiled, before replying, "Well, I love shopping, especially for clothes, and going to parties, ooh, and painting my nails…"

Freddie sighed and fell back against his chair as Tiffany listed off her 'hobbies' on her fingers, flicking her hair behind her and fluttering her volumised eyelashes at him every few seconds; did she have a nervous tick?

"Oh, and I love watching TV!"

"Yeah, like what?" Freddie asked excitedly, leaning forward. His last shred of hope clung onto her answer, and his mind quickly ran through all his favourite TV shows; would she be into sci-fi, like Space Walk, or perhaps murder mysteries, like Sherlock Holmes, or maybe-

"Reality TV shows," Tiffany replied ecstatically, interrupting Freddie's dreamy thought process as she leant forwards slightly, "I just adore the Kardashians, they're such an inspiration, don't you think?"

Freddie tried to mask his disappointment, smiling slightly at her, but failed miserably, as he watched his last hope drop over the edge of the cliff that was the most boring and unsuccessful date he had ever been on. Not only had he discovered how shallow and at times mean Tiffany could be about her friends, he realised that they had absolutely nothing in common, and he didn't even really enjoy her company. She didn't make him laugh, or joke around with him about his nerdy habits and crazy mother, and she didn't even eat meat; what was the point?

Still at her station at the top of the stairs, Sam grinned at Tiffany's answer, knowing that Freddie wouldn't be pleased her response, and decided it was time to actively initiate her plan. Sneaking up the remaining stairs she had to travel to reach the second floor, Sam ran down the hallway in search of one thing - the Shay's alarm and sprinkler system.

"So, Freddiekins," Tiffany stated in a low, supposedly seductive voice, "I've got a little something to ask you,"

"Shoot," Freddie replied, wondering how he could signal Gibby to bring over the dessert so he could end this disaster of a date as soon as possible.

"Well," she dragged out the word, smiling as she gently traced her finger up and down his arm, "I know that iCarly airs tomorrow, and I was just wondering if I could be in it!"

Astounded, Freddie didn't know how to respond, "What?" he asked, for lack of a better word.

"It doesn't have to be anything big," she began again, getting excited as she shuffled her chair closer and closer to his, "I could be a background dancer, or have my own segment, and if the audience likes me, then who knows where it could go. Maybe I could even replace Sam one day and become Carly's co-host-"

But Freddie didn't let Tiffany finish, as he stood up from his chair and stared at her in disbelief and anger. "Has this been what all this has been about?" he demanded, "The flirting at school, sitting next to me in Algebra for the past few weeks, the date, all because you wanted to get on iCarly?"

Sensing herself sinking into troubled waters, Tiffany got up to stand beside him and grabbed his arm desperately, "Of course not, Freddiepoo, it was just a suggestion, all I want to do is help you guys improve iCarly, I've got so many ideas and I thought that-"

"Well you thought wrong, Tiffany," he said, yanking his arm away from her hand and glaring at her, "Sam was right, you never really did like me, did you, you just wanted to claw your way into the web show business."

"No, Freddie, please," Tiffany pleaded, as her ship to stardom sunk lower and lower to the bottom of the proverbial ocean, "Don't listen to Sam, she's just a violent, crazy person who wants to fill your head with lies about me, don't you see, I'd be a much better co-host for the show,"

"No, you wouldn't," Freddie yelled, and Sam, having completed her mission, returned to her post with her trusty blue remote in hand just as Freddie started his speech, "Sam is an amazing co-host, who also happens to be one of my best friends, and yeah, she might be crazy sometimes, and her random acts of violence aren't one of her best traits, but she's strong and passionate and the funniest person I've ever met. So before you go round insulting my friends just remember she is one hundred times better than you'll ever be, mainly because she doesn't have the personality of a sponge and the emotional range of a teaspoon, and her eyes are way prettier than yours and because…because…. BECAUSE SHE CAN EAT A WHOLE HAM IN UNDER TEN MINUTES!

* * *

><p>Tiffany raised her eyebrows at his last comment, and Freddie, breathing heavily from his outburst suddenly realised what he had just said about the blonde headed demon currently residing upstairs - prettier eyes and ham? What the fat cake was wrong with him? However, before they could further analyse what had just occurred, the fire alarm in the Shay's apartment went off, blaring a loud beeping noise throughout the room which subsequently caused the sprinkler system became activated. Except instead of water raining down from the ceiling, a shower of blue paint poured over them in a haze of colour and confusion.<p>

Cursing, Sam spun around from her seat on the top stair to find that in her shock over Freddie's speech, (did he really think her eyes were pretty?) she had accidentally pressed the button on her remote that she had rigged to initiate the sprinkler systems. In a frenzy of panic, Sam bashed the buttons on the remote, with some vague hope that she could stop the sprinkler system, but she knew it was no use - once those bad boys had been activated there was no way of stopping them.

"WHAT IS HAPPENING?" Tiffany screamed, as she tried to shield herself from the unforgiving swirls of paint that were slowly covering the living room and kitchen.

Looking around the room in disbelief, his eyes widening with confusion, Freddie couldn't help but glance at the stairs and chuckle to himself, "Oh, I've got a few ideas." It seemed his blonde headed demon couldn't seem to help herself after all.

A now shirtless Gibby emerged from the kitchen, holding a precious crème brulee, which he had been preparing for dessert, in each hand as the dishes filled up with a sea of blue.

"This is awesome, dude!" he yelled excitedly, dumping the desserts on the counter and throwing his arms wide open, basking in the current downpour of paint, "Another couple minutes of this and we'll look like Smurfs!"

Openly laughing at the absurdity of the situation, Freddie walked over and joined his friend Gibby, who was now dancing underneath one of the sprinklers, no longer caring about his date who was currently wobbling along on her high heels in search of a hiding spot; her pink dress blending with the blue and turning into a muddy brown colour.

Suddenly, the elevator door dinged, signalling someone's arrival, and opened to reveal Spencer, nonchalantly sipping on a smoothie as he strolled into the apartment, holding onto the lead of-

"IS THAT AN OSTRICH?" Tiffany screamed, pointing a shaking finger at Spencer and the large bird beside him as the last trickles of the blue paint splattered to the floor; it seemed the azure storm was finally over.

Spencer looked over to the terrified teenage girl in his living room in confusion, before slowly replying, "No. It's a Blueberry Blast Smoothie."

Looking from Freddie, to Gibby, and finally back to Spencer, Tiffany let out a wail and ran out of the apartment, screaming, "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?" at the top of her lungs before slamming the door behind her in a final act of anger; Barbie had left the building.

Walking into his apartment with his new pet, Spencer smiled at Freddie and Gibby, apparently oblivious to what had just occurred, before freezing and narrowing his eyes slightly as he looked around the room.

"Something's different," he mused, as Freddie and Gibby stifled their giggles, "Something important."

As Spencer contemplated what minor change had been made to his disorderly home, Gibby nudged Freddie, "Sorry about your date, dude. I didn't mean to scare her off."

Patting Gibby on the back, Freddie smiled and replied, "Don't worry about it, Gib, it wasn't your fault, and the date wasn't going too swimmingly anyway. In fact, you and Sam probably saved me from having to break up with her and the end of the evening."

"Sam?" Gibby asked, confused, as he usually was in true Gibby form.

The name of the prank's culprit jolted Freddie back to reality, as he realised to what extent a certain blonde firecracker had gone to, to ensure his date had gone to hell, "Yeah, Sam. You can come out now, Puckett; I know you're up there."

Sam let out the breath she had been holding in, and poked her head out from behind the wall, before slowly making her way down the stairs; the gig was up.

* * *

><p>"What's up, Benson?" she asked, smiling as her voice wavered slightly, "I like what you've done with the place!"<p>

Raising his eyebrows at her, Freddie smiled and walked over to Sam before crossing his arms and staring at her, "Blue paint in the sprinklers. Really?"

Sam sighed, and walked over to sit on the sofa, only remembering its current blue state after she had sat down, causing her to jump up in surprise and rub the back of her jeans slightly in an attempt to rid them of the blue stain. Great.

"I was just trying to save you from that hobnocker of a Barbie," Sam explained, as she paced up and down the apartment angrily, "I know, it was wrong, yadda yadda yadda, but you couldn't see through her cutesy façade to her evil core, and if I didn't stop her from entrapping you with her wily feminine ways she would have completely ruined everything; the show, your life-" Sam stopped suddenly, and found staring into Freddie's russet eyes while he was only a few metres away from her. Our weird, random, completely amazing friendship, she thought wistfully, before mentally shaking her head and breathing, "Everything."

Freddie stared at her, the smile on his face growing; what Sam had done for him tonight had been, surprisingly enough, out of the good of heart instead of the bad; she really was just thinking of him and what was best for him. Well, imagine that.

"And after everything you did for me a few months ago," Sam mumbled quietly, averting her eyes to her shoes, "What with taking the blame for the car prank, and all," her eyes darted around the room, before finally resting on Freddie once more as they filled with genuine remorse, "I'm sorry, Benson."

Freddie smiled, and punched her shoulder lightly, "Its cool, Puckett."

Sam raised her eyebrows slightly, and dug her hands into the pockets of her ripped up jeans, "Really? You're not mad?"

"Nope," Freddie replied, "Turns out Tiffany really was only after me for my 'connections' in the web show world," he signalled quote marks with his hands around the word connections, causing a laugh to bubble out of the still rather shocked Sam, "You were right about her, Sam, and I'm sorry for not believing you sooner. You're a good friend."

Smiling at the nub standing before her, Sam shoved Freddie in the chest, causing him to stumble backwards slightly, "Well that's what you get for not listening to Mama in the first place, dork."

Laughing, Freddie rubbed his chest and looked at Sam with mock hurt before nudging her with his foot in a lame attempt of a comeback. Then, upon hearing the squawk of the large bird in the apartment, Freddie turned around to where Gibby and Spencer were standing in the kitchen.

"Has he worked it out yet, Gib?" Freddie grinned, as he leant against the kitchen counter, being careful to avoid the ostrich that was now meandering its way through the living room.

"Did you buy new taps for the kitchen sink?" Spencer asked, confused, as he wandered around the kitchen, stopping to stare intently at the sink.

"Evidently not," Gibby laughed, as Sam came and joined them in the kitchen.

"So," she asked, leaning against the counter next to Freddie and nudging him with her elbow, "Where do you think this prank comes in the list?"

Freddie pretended to think about this, before replying, "Hmm, definitely above putting glue on Mr Howard's chair, but I don't think it can match making Ms. Briggs car magically appear in her classroom."

"So it made the Top Ten!" Sam exclaimed, making Freddie laugh by doing a little victory dance in celebration, and before long she had dragged him into joining in with her random outburst of dancing.

"IT'S BLUE!" Spencer cried out, as he finally came to the realisation that his apartment had been turned into what looked like a mass homage to the colour of the TARDIS in Doctor Who.

The trio laughed as Spencer ran through the lower floor of the apartment, spinning around as he gawked at his newly reformed furniture in joy, "I LOVE IT!" he screamed, and began scooping up a bunch of seemingly random objects with excitement, "I'm going to go and make an awesome sculpture RIGHT NOW!" he yelled before running into his room, screaming, "BLUE IS THE BEST COLOUR EVER!"

"Speaking of blue," Freddie pondered to Sam as Gibby ran upstairs to go and show Carly his 'new look,' "You stick out like a sore thumb down here, Puckett." Sam looked down at her red shirt, before looking up at Freddie's smirking face and shrugging, "Yeah, so?"

"Well," Freddie mused, strolling over to her, feeling more confident with each step, "I'm going to have to fix that."

Sam, finally realising Freddie's plan, opened her mouth to protest and threaten to kick Freddie where it hurt if he took one more step, but before she could say a word Freddie had engulfed her into a bear hug that seriously restricted all movement on her part.

"Get off me, you big dork," Sam yelled, but her laughter ruined the intimidating tone she was trying to get across to Freddie.

"Come on Sam, you owe me, and you owe me big," Freddie chuckled as he squeezed a squirming Sam tightly, mixing her red shirt with the blue paint that he was covered in to form a light purple colour, "First, for the car prank, and second for that fact that I didn't completely explode over you making my date eligible to join the Blue Man Group."

"Oh please," Sam laughed, as she stared at Freddie whilst trying to escape from his grip - when did this nub get so strong? - "You didn't need me to make that date a disaster; you did that all by yourself."

Freddie laughed, and looked at Sam, getting hopelessly lost in her cerulean eyes. He realised he had been wrong when had screamed to Tiffany about how pretty Sam's eyes were, they weren't pretty at all; they were truly, completely, awe-inspiringly beautiful, and even if he hadn't realised before, there was huge difference between the two.

Ignoring the butterflies in her stomach and her conflicting need to simultaneously push Freddie away from her and hold onto him even tighter, Sam grinned at him as she finally managed to free her arms from her sides. Then, in one swift movement she reached behind Freddie and gave him one of her less powerful, but still pretty painful, Texan wedgies, causing him to release her from the hug and clutch his sore behind. Sam laughed and ran up the stairs, two at a time, shouting at Freddie to join them in the studio when he regained some of his dignity, if the day ever came. After letting out a huff of anger, Freddie couldn't help but smile at Sam's actions, and rubbing his rear end ran up the stairs after the blonde whirlwind.

Sam always did manage to keep his life interesting.

* * *

><p><strong>AN - **Did you guys like it? If you hated Tiffany, and loved Spencer, then hopefully that means I've done my job well! Write your favourite bits and lines in the doobily doo to make me smile, and... I'LL BUY YOU A PONY! (It's not a bribe, it's positive reinforcement!) Hopefully that chapter will keep you guys going for a while, but the next chapter will be up in a week's time, maybe less if I get enough time to write it. I LOVE YOU ALL, never forget that!

Quick note - In the Introduction, and in the Epilogue which has yet to be posted, Sam and Freddie are in their Senior Year at school, and are about 18, so sorry for not telling you guys that, it wasn't very clear at all! (Thanks to irishfan for pointing that out!) Au reviour, my lovelys!

Please Review, Click the Blue

~ Mim


	4. Chapter 3: Beauty and the Beast

**Summary **- When Freddie is given an essay to write entitled "What is Love?" how will he react when he reads his work aloud to his English class and finally realises how he feels for a certain blonde headed demon?

**Disclaimer** - Dan Schneider is dead. Nickelodeon has fallen. I AM IN CONTROL NOW, and my first order of business is to get Sam and Freddie back together on iCarly *evil laughter* *awkward silence* But, yeah, I don't own iCarly.

**A/N** - Well here we are again, same time, same place, same awesome readers and wonderful reviewers :P . Thank you to GeekQuality, visciousboar, loveseddie94, alma, xXxStompingOnRosesxXx, President ORB, irishfan62, Quinn, Nola, laugh-as-if-no-one-is-there, DannySamLover20, deetrixjaay, purplehAM138 and KittiesOnTheDarkSide for the lovely reviews, I think you guys beat my most-reviews-on-one-chapter record, so THANK YOU! Your ponies are on the way as I type.

Special shout out to (seddie is epic 73) for beta-ing and for her amazing mini essay filled with praise and improvements for this chapter, I LOVE YOU, SWEETIE!

Alma - UPDATE IS HERE! *dances*

Quinn - Did you get him? His name is Mr Sparkle-Pants, I hope you like him!

Nola - Thank you my dear, and yes, I was particularly proud of that line!

I'm actually really happy with the way this chapter came out, so I hope you guys like it. ENJOY!

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><p><em>You accept them for who they are, proverbial warts and all, and even thought they're not perfect you don't want to change a single thing about them. Because you know they are truly beautiful - inside and out.<em>

**November- Junior Year (16 years old)**

* * *

><p>"I am exhausted," Sam groaned as the iCarly trio walked into the Shays' apartment, carelessly dumping her bag on the floor before heading straight for the fridge.<p>

Carly and Freddie chuckled at their blonde headed friend, whose tiny body was now more than half way in Carly's refrigerated goods as she searched for an after school snack that would hopefully satiate her bottomless pit until, well, until her next delve into the fridge. Suddenly, Carly's phone rang, the sound of Spencer playing the banjo blaring out of her pocket, and as she grabbed it from her jeans and read the name of the person who was calling her, Carly squealed excitedly and ran into Spencer's room to answer it.

Probably one of her many suitors, Freddie thought to himself, smiling, but his attention was drawn back to Sam as he heard her yawn loudly from the kitchen.

"It was just a normal day at school, Sam, why are you so tired?" Freddie asked, surprised at the sound of genuine concern in his voice.

Returning to the living room, having victoriously succeeded in her quest, Sam bit into the large honey glazed ham she had just acquired and replied, "Because, young Padawan, Ms. Briggs had her beady little eyes on me for the whole of Algebra, so I didn't get to have my daily nap in third period like I usually do."

Wincing at the sight of the mauled up meat in Sam' mouth, Freddie walked over to her and asked, "I'm sorry, what was that, I was distracted by the half-masticated pig rolling around in your wide-open trap to understand a word you just said."

Sam rolled her eyes, and shoved Freddie good naturedly before jumping over the back of the sofa and relaxing into the worn out cushions, sighing at her new comfortable state. Freddie laughed and walked around the sofa to sit next to her, softly slapping her legs in an attempt to make them move out of the way, as they were currently taking up his usual spot beside his favourite blonde headed demon. Sam raised her eyebrows at his wordless request, and mumbled, her mouth still full of ham, "Get me a Pepi Cola and then I'll consider giving you a place to sit on my sofa,"

"Your sofa?" Freddie scoffed, as he reluctantly complied with Sam's wishes, travelling to the fridge to retrieve her drink before throwing it over to her as he headed back into the living room, "I'll think you'll find that this sofa belongs to Spencer and Carly, believe it or not."

Sam pretended to closely inspect the drink in her hands, before nodding slowly in acceptance and moving her legs so that Freddie could sit down. "Well, they may own it, but I use it so much the shape of my butt is imprinted into the cushions, and in my books that means it belongs to me."

Freddie shook his head, smiling, and was about to reply to Sam's less than lady like comment when Carly came running out of Spencer's room looking more excited and animated than the Energiser Bunny himself.

"He asked me out!" she shrieked, pulling Sam up so she could jump up and down with her excitedly, "Bobby asked me out!"

"He did?" Sam asked, dumping her ham on the table to hug her best friend, "That's awesome, Carly, good on ya kid!"

"Wait, Bobby, as in Bobby Freidman, star quarterback of the football team and senior class president Bobby Freidman?" Freddie asked, standing up in disbelief, "You're going out on a date with him? When?"

"Why do you ask, Frediccini, jealous much?" Sam asked, turning around to grin at Freddie, who pulled a face at her and nudged her hard enough in the arm to make her stumble backwards slightly, though instead of retaliating angrily Sam laughed and nudged him back in return. Ever since he and Carly had 'dated' for a few days back in June when he had saved her from that taco truck, only to break up less than a week later, Sam hadn't stopped giving him crap, (I mean, crab) about still being in love with Carly, despite it being a mutual decision that they weren't really right for each other (after all, Freddie was just bacon to an oblivious Carly.)

Despite his protests that he was definitely over Carly, mainly to shut Sam up, Freddie was still unsure about how he felt towards their brunette friend; a love of some kind, of that he was sure, but of the romantic type? He just didn't know what was going on in that messed up teenage head of his. Freddie wanted to give Sam his infamous death glare for her previous comment, but staring at her impish face filled with glee he couldn't help but grin back. With that dazzling smile he could never stay angry at Sam for very long.

"Yes!" Carly squealed again, ignoring her friends' current shoving contest; they had so many on a daily basis that she had given up trying to stop them, "The one and the same Bobby Freidman, can you believe it? And it's tonight, at the Groovy Smoothie. Oh my God," she froze, and quickly looked at her Snoopy watch, before turning around and running up the stairs, "I have to go and get ready!"

"Why, what time does it start?" Sam asked, signalling a mini truce with Freddie while she talked to their best friend.

"7:00pm," Carly replied, spinning around on the spot to quickly answer Sam.

"That's in three hours time!" Freddie stated incredulously, staring up at Carly in a confused manner.

"I know; that's two hours less preparation time than I usually have!" Carly exclaimed in horror, before running up the stairs muttering something about cutting down her shower schedule to make sure she had enough time to take Polaroid pictures of herself in all her possible outfits before choosing which one to wear.

Freddie and Sam turned to look at each other, before bursting out into uncontrollable laughter at their wonderful, but slightly insane, best friend's antics. Only Carly would spend five hours getting ready and mentally preparing herself for a date.

"So," Sam laughed as she made her way back over to the sofa and plonked herself down, "I guess it's just you and me tonight; Spencer's got that art exhibition thing and I think Gibby's at a talent show trying to convince everyone his duck has a gift in ballroom dancing."

Freddie smiled, at both the idea of a ballroom dancing duck and at the prospect of spending a night of with Samantha Puckett, sitting in front of the TV, eating large amounts of food, and constantly bickering and taunting each other until his mother came home and forced his monthly decontamination shower upon him.

"I guess so," he replied, collapsing next to her and stretching his arms out behind him, "So, MMA marathon?"

Laughing at Sam's enthusiastic response, Freddie reached over for the remote and switched on the TV just in time for the commentators' pre-match speech, which Sam loved to impersonate in her best Southern American accent while simultaneously yelling at Freddie to go and make them some popcorn.

A night with Samantha Puckett, Freddie thought to himself as Sam kicked him hard enough to make him stand up and head to the kitchen on popcorn patrol. Well, he could think of much worse ways to spend an evening.

* * *

><p>"NO!" Sam and Freddie screamed, as they jumped up from the sofa during the finale of their MMA marathon about three hours later, scattering the remnants of popcorn and pizza crusts onto the still slightly stained blue floor.<p>

"Come on, Jackson, get up!" Freddie yelled at the screen, as Sam and he clutched onto each others shoulders tightly, their anxiety growing by the second.

"Use the shoulder crunch, THE SHOULDER CRUNCH!" Sam added, stamping on the floor angrily, "Jackson Colt doesn't lose, damn it, BEAT THAT NEWBIE SUCKER DOWN!"

"5, 4, 3, 2…" the referee on the TV yelled as the pair watched their on-screen hero struggling beneath what looked to be the newest wrestling world champion.

The cheers from the audience announced what Sam and Freddie had feared, and as Freddie collapsed onto the sofa in defeat Sam pulled at her hair in confusion and complete rage.

"Wow, what a fight that was!" declared the presenter of the show happily, his dazzling white teeth blinding the two disgruntled viewers at home, "But there can only be one winner, and that is newcomer Christopher Lane, who has defeated his predecessor Jackson "The Beast" Colt for the title MMA world champion!"

Unable to hear any more, Freddie grabbed the remote and clicked the button to switch off the TV, before tossing it beside him and covering his face with his hands, sighing heavily.

"So that's it, then," he mumbled weakly, expecting an outburst from the blonde firecracker in the room. Confused by the sudden silence, Freddie looked up to find that Sam had left the living room and was currently stuck head first into the depths of the fridge. Freddie smiled, before resting his hands behind his head and closing his eyes for a moment. If there was one thing Sam could do, it was eat, and it times of great need her comfort eating skills were immeasurable to anything ever seen by man or beast.

Retreating back into the living room, holding what seemed like the entire contents of the fridge; Sam sat down heavily next to Freddie on the sofa, dumping her food on the table in front of her, and began the great feast of 2010 that would have made Henry VІІІ proud.

"I can't believe he lost-" Freddie started, before he was quickly interrupted with a weary but meaningful look from Sam.

"Can we just watch something else and forget that match ever happened," she asked resignedly, "I'll go and have words with this Christopher Lane tomorrow, but I am too tired to even function properly right now."

Freddie nodded understandingly, it wasn't every day their hero was beaten by some stupid newbie, and switched the TV back on to some random action film as Sam sunk into the sofa cushions and methodically shoved fat cake after fat cake into her mouth.

"Will you at least leave the butter sock at home?" Freddie requested, looking over to Sam with a grin on his face. Sam's grave face wobbled, as she let a small smile escape from her upturned mouth, turning to face Freddie and raised her eyebrows mockingly.

"I'm not making any promises, nub."

Freddie laughed at this response, and looked down, shaking his head. Only Sam could come up with a line like that and make it sound like a positive thing; well, it was better than nothing.

* * *

><p>As the pair of them became more immersed in the film, which had enough CGI effects to impress Freddie and some enormous explosions which kept Sam completely engrossed, Freddie's mind began to wander as he turned his head to look at the blonde headed demon beside him, whose eyes were glued to the screen in front of her as she delicately placed popcorn pieces into her mouth, one by one.<p>

You'd be surprised about how much time Freddie spent with Sam since that disaster of a date with Tiffany, when he finally realised how much Sam truly cared for his well being, especially over the long summer months when Carly had gone to stay with her granddad in Yakima for eight weeks, partially because they hadn't seen him for a while and partly because Carly still felt "weird" around Freddie after the break up. During that time, all Sam and Freddie had were each other, and Gibby, of course, when he wasn't "hot dogging chicks," as he liked to call it. The pair still fought, of course, over whose turn it was to buy the smoothies (Freddie always lost) and the places they would go (which now excluded the aquarium after Sam tried to fish out a trout to take home and fry on the barbecue - Freddie had realised his mistake in taking her there all too late) but at some point during the stretched out days of sweltering heat, filled with eating quickly melting ice creams in the park and hiding from Freddie's crazy mother as she chased them down the street holding factor 100 sun cream, they had reached an understanding. No, Freddie thought, smiling, it was more than an understanding - they truly had become best friends, perhaps not ones who shared their deepest felt emotions or braided each other's hair, that was more Carly's forte, but partner's in crime who genuinely enjoyed each other's company and, though they would never admit to it, missed each other when the other was gone.

Thinking again of his brunette friend, who was still currently upstairs preparing for what she had called 'the date of her dreams,' he was surprised that what he felt was not jealousy, but instead a warm glow across his stomach; he was actually really happy for Carly and everything this date meant for her, but if that Bobby guy hurt her in any way Freddie knew he would make him pay. Or employ Sam to make him pay, at the very least. During this thought process, a realisation came over Freddie that he had been waiting, hoping and at times praying for since the sixth grade; he was finally over Carly Shay. It was true; he did have feelings for her once, that he couldn't deny, but over the past few years his feelings had subsided into something much more innocent, a comfortable sibling-esque love, which was what made dating her in the first place feel so wrong and out of place.

Still staring at Sam, Freddie wanted to interrupt her intense TV watching to inform her of his epiphany, only to remember that it probably wouldn't sound any different to what he had said a million times before - except this time he knew in his heart that it was true. He chuckled slightly at Sam, who accidentally stabbed herself in the cheek with a piece of popcorn as she missed her mouth, but she quickly rectified her mistake and carried on eating. Her long blonde hair, still in disarray from the stress of the Jackson Colt fight and her treasure hunt in the fridge, framed her face in a messy, chaotic, very-Sam way, and though it blocked Freddie's view of the rest of her heart shaped face, Freddie couldn't help but stare intently at her, a small smile playing on his face.

"Freddie!" a shrill voice interrupted his intense study of one Samantha Puckett, and he looked up almost angrily at what he now recognised to be Carly as if he had been woken up from a very pleasant dream.

"Yo, Carls," he replied weakly, glancing back to Sam nervously. Had Carly noticed his random delve into creepy stalker ville when she has been shouting at him?

"I said your name three times, what is up with you?" Carly asked, placing her hands on her hips sassily, "You just kept on staring at Sam's hair like the new Pear Phone 5G was hidden in there."

Uh oh, Freddie winced and closed his eyes. Busted.

At the mention of her name, Sam reluctantly looked away from her precious film, "What'd you say, Carls?" she asked uninterestedly.

"Nothing," Freddie quickly covered up, "There was a Cheeto in your hair, that's all, I got it out."

"You didn't throw it away, did you, that thing was probably still edible," Sam asked alertly, taking Freddie by the scruff of his neck, "Don't you lie to Mama."

Suddenly, the doorbell rang, distracting everyone from the current Cheeto fiasco as it announced the arrival of Carly's highly anticipated date.

"That's him!" Carly yelped, turning back to her friends who had gotten up from their seats and stretched out their curled up bodies like cats after a long sleep. "How do I look?"

"Smoking hot," Sam replied, as Freddie took in Carly's short but decent red dress, black heels and curled hair, "That boy's not gonna know what's hit him when you open that door."

"You look very nice, Carly," Freddie answered, before worriedly adding "Just don't stay out too late, okay?"

"Yes, Dad!" Carly joked as she headed towards the door. Sam's hands jumped to her face, as she wiped off the crumbs from around her mouth and smoothed down her hair to make herself look presentable for their fast approaching guest. Freddie frowned slightly, wondering why she felt the need to alter her appearance for some guy they hardly knew, she always looked beautiful no matter what random food substance was on her face. Wait, did he just think that Sam was beautiful?

"Bye guys!" Carly called out from the door, interrupting Freddie's confusing train of thought, "I've texted Spencer to let him know I'll be home by 11, don't burn down the house while I'm gone, oh, and Freddie, your mum called and said she has to pull an extra shift at the hospital so she won't be home until tomorrow morning."

"Why didn't she call me?" Freddie asked, slightly concerned.

"She did," Carly added, "But you didn't pick up your phone. Just be glad she didn't drive all the way home just to make sure you were still alive."

Freddie rolled his eyes and smiled, before joining in with Sam and waving Carly off, as well as quickly greeting Bobby as he stepped in to collect his date.

After they had left, Sam turned back to Freddie, rotating her foot into the ground in a bored manner.

"So, what now?" she asked.

"We could have a Galaxy Wars marathon!" Freddie said excitedly, expecting to be quickly shot down. Instead, Sam smiled, and replied, "Sure. Why not."

Freddie's eyebrows shot up in surprise, but before he could ask what Sam's evil scheme was she added, "I'm so tired I'm probably going to fall asleep anyway, and before I do I want to make fun of the crab that you watch on a daily basis."

Freddie grinned, and ran to his apartment to grab the DVDs before Sam changed her mind. As long as he got to watch his hero on the screen, he really didn't care what Sam said to him. Unless, of course, she made fun of any of his favourite characters. Then, war would probably break out; he was deadly serious about Galaxy Wars, and he was going to force them upon Sam whether she liked it or not. Oh God. If she breaks his arm again his mother is not going to be pleased…

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><p>Three and a half hours later, Sam was sprawled across the sofa, her head resting softly on Freddie's lap as she breathed evenly, her tiny snores signalling the inevitable; she had finally succumbed to the sand man and fallen under his deep spell. Freddie, however, was very much awake, his eyes fixated on the screen as the final battle scene of the second Galaxy Wars film, <em>The <em>_Kingdom __Gets __Revenge,_as he absent-mindedly played with Sam's loose tendrils of hair that hung over his lap.

As the credits for the film began to play, Freddie contemplated getting up and putting in the third and final instalment to the series, but looking down at the surprisingly peaceful Sam currently occupying his lap, he decided risking his life to watch another Galaxy Wars film, because she would kill him if he woke her up, probably wasn't worth it.

Glancing down at the blonde headed beauty below him - there it was again, that word. Beautiful. It seemed to be cropping up a lot lately, and seemed to have a direct correlation with the presence of Sam in the room, which was not only confusing but also completely unexpected, as he had never thought of Sam as being beautiful before.

OK, that was a lie. He had always known Sam had been attractive, he wasn't blind after all, but her constant need to attack him and long string of violence had distracted him from ever really looking at her before. Now, however, while she was sleeping, an odd yet comfortingly innocent look on her flawless face, he could study her properly.

Starting cautiously as he began treading in unknown waters, Freddie began with the generic things, you know, the sorts of things you'd find in a cheesy romantic comedy or a teenage novel, except in Sam's case it was all uncannily true. Though they were closed, Freddie could see Sam's striking cerulean eyes staring back at him in his mind; narrowed with an impish glare, opened widely in feign innocence, and just once, filled with uncertainty and fear; just before their first kiss way back when on their fire escape. Her hair, which just last week had finally reached her waist after years of growing it out, an achievement both she and Freddie were strangely proud of, was long and golden like that of a fairy tale princess. Twisting the long strands of blonde between his fingers, Freddie couldn't help but think of the long jungle vines that hung in the depths of the unknown, which entwined with each other so gracefully in an environment so lethal. Her smile, which had already caught him out once that night, could make a blind man heart soar, her entire presence lit up a room whether she was joking around with someone, making the crowd laugh or beating a bully, or Freddie, to the pulp; she was always, usually inadvertently the centre of attention, something even she didn't realise at times.

Then, as he began more immersed in and engrossed by Sam, Freddie started thinking of the more obscure things that he had always found beautiful about her. Brushing away the hair from the nape of her neck, he spotted the tiny black mole that he knew resided there only because he had noticed it when she had held him up by the scruff of his neck in Freshman year; it's presence not at all resembling that of Lewbert's mole which, to be perfectly honest, was still pretty gross after all these years. He noted how tiny and demure her hands were for such a strong willed and tough person, especially one who had won many a fist fight, though that did explain the rough exterior of her skin, as Sam never was one for hand cream. Then, though tentatively, Freddie moved his hand to hover over his favourite trait of Samantha Puckett's appearance, the dimple above her chin and just below her mouth, which crinkled every time she smiled and wobbled oh so delicately every time she laughed.

Stopping himself, Freddie shook his head and sat back again, his breath heavy as his brain tried to comprehend what had just occurred between him and a sleeping Sam who was oblivious to all around her. Suddenly, Sam let out a loud, deeply unattractive though completely hilarious grunt in her sleep, causing Freddie to have to hold in a fit of laughter as she shuffled around to alter her sleeping position and continued to doze in his lap, unaware of her previous actions.

Sure, she wasn't perfect, Freddie thought as he gazed at Sam once more; she was loud, abrasive and probably far too violent for her own good, one of her front teeth was twisted ever so slightly inwards after she tripped over a fell during a brawl with Rideway High bully Jocelyn the Fierce, not to mention how she almost always had scabby knocked knees from playing soccer with Freddie and Gibby, (and that was just the start of a very long list,) but those imperfections were what made her human. They were what made her Sam.

Considering his deep musings about the blonde headed demon snoozing on his lap, Freddie soon followed Sam into the land of the Sandman, his thoughts and confusing new feelings towards Princess Puckett still occupying his mind, where they would remain for a very long time indeed.

"OK, goodnight Bobby," Carly smiled as she waved her date off at the door. He had been a perfect gentleman, kissing her softly on her doorstep before wishing her a good night and promising to text her the next day.

Still giddy over her perfect date with a guy she was already in love with, Carly walked into her living room to find Freddie and Sam asleep on the sofa, small smile still present on both their lips despite their current state. She smiled at them, and how happy they looked together, she had actually been really glad, if not mildly jealous, about how much they had bonded over the past few months, especially after the disastrous few days that was 'Creddie,' back in June. As she watched Sam snuggle even further into what had now become Freddie's chest, Carly's eyes narrowed slightly as she joined up the dots in her head; was there something going on between those two? Sure, they were like chalk and cheese, ying and yang, spaghetti and tacos, she thought wonderingly as she considered the prospect of Sam and Freddie dating, but sometimes the world surprised you with what went well together and what didn't (just ask Spencer for some proof, of you need any.) Well, she thought, sighing, they'd just have to cross that bridge when they got there, though watching them waking up the next morning to find they had 'slept together,' was going to be an event Carly wouldn't miss for the world - mainly because she didn't want to risk Sam bringing out the butter sock on Freddie.

Walking over to the pair, Carly switched off the TV and pulled out a blanket from underneath the coffee table before placing it gently over them, patting each other their heads goodnight and turning around to stroll dreamily up the stairs, thinking of nothing but how good Bobby Friedman looked in a suit. Turning back to give her best friends one last look, Carly smiled and switched off the corridor lights, dropping Sam and Freddie into complete darkness. Not that either of them noticed, of course. They were too busy dreaming about the night they had shared together; as each of them chased after a blurry but recognisable figure in their minds, a fact that they would have to deny the next day, but would happily treasure for the rest of their lives.

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><p><strong>AN** - Did you guys like it? Let me know your favourite parts, I love seeing people's responses to my work! I'll give you guys... a hug? (I think my I peaked too early on in the 'presents' I give my reviewers... :P) New update in a week, hopefully, but I've got some really important English coursework due in next week so there might be a slight delay on the next upload - I'm really sorry, but my school work has to come first (unfortunately!) Have a great week you guys, love you all forever.

Please Review, Click the Blue!

~ Mim


	5. Chapter 4: Risks and Rides

**Summary **- When Freddie is given an essay to write entitled "What is Love?" how will he react when he reads his work aloud to his English class and finally realises how he feels for a certain blonde headed demon?

**Disclaimer** - If I owned iCarly, there would have been a new episode out by now, gosh darn it. WHAT'S GOING ON, SCHNEIDER, HUH?

**A/N** - Hi everyone, how are you all? I can't believe I surpassed the 50 reviews mark - I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! A big thank you to DannySamLover20, purplehAM138, loveseddie94, deetrixjaay, Tomboy22, Geekquality, little miss pink ink, KittiesOnTheDarkSide, Nola, hitthelights, mortalimortality and irishfan62 for the lovely, wonderful reviews, tonight you're all going away with... A BRAND NEW CAR! (Terms and Conditions - Reviewers will not actually be receiving a car, as the writer is cheap, poor person who is on the internet... so yeah. :-)

Nola - Thank you! I'm glad you liked the Carly parts, as I not really sure how to write her...! *insert heart here*

hitthelights - NEW VIEWSER ALERT - You have no idea how happy this made me, so THANK YOU, my lovely! xx

This chapter is sponsored by Jennette McCurdy's song Me With You, which was on repeat for the entirety of my writing process. Seriously, an awesome happy song!

(seddie is epic 73) is one amazing chick, who is definitely the most wonderfully apt beta in the world - go check her stuff out!

Enjoy!

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><p><em>They say time apart can make a love grow stronger - but its hard being away from them in the first place because you miss them so much.<em>

**April - Junior Year (17 years old)**

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><p>She was missing, Freddie thought as he gazed at the empty seat next to him during second period English in a pensive and somewhat longing way. Not actually missing, like the "Call the sheriff, Little Timmy is missing again, let's check the well!" kind of missing, but absent all the same. Although knowing Sam, she was probably just ditching school to do something, as she put it, "much more worthwhile with her time." Still, Freddie thought, sighing, that fact didn't make him worry about her whereabouts any less, even though he knew Sam was a big girl and could take on any weirdo's or losers that tried to come after her, if such a thing should ever happen. In fact, he kind of felt sorry for any guy that did try and attack Sam; they would not be feeling too good after she was finished with them.<p>

Freddie's worrying had begun that morning, when he had gone to Carly's apartment to pick the girls up for school, a routine the trio had developed over the years, and Sam hadn't been there. This fact alone was odd in itself, as Sam usually spent most nights at the apartment, either curled up on the sofa or, when Carly was being particularly lenient about Sam's vicious sleep-kicking, sharing her best friend's bed, but what was stranger still was the fact that she had stayed the night, according to Carly, but had just left exceedingly early. Samantha Puckett never got early when she could help it, which in Freddie's head lead him to one of two possibilities, a) she had been kidnapped by flesh eating aliens who were planning to use her vast knowledge of breakfast meats to somehow take over the world, or b) she was plotting something that could get her into huge trouble, a prospect that worried Freddie even more than the first. With his anxiety building, Freddie wondered if he should text Sam to make sure she was OK, a thought that made him realise he was getting more and more like Crazy every day. He shuddered. That was never a good thing.

Making up his mind as he ignored the disturbing image of his own face merging with his mother's, Freddie subtly pulled out his Pear Phone from his pocket and typed a quick text to Sam while his teacher's back was turned, "Hey, where are you, are you OK? If so, get your ham shaped butt into school so you don't fail!" Quickly checking to make sure his phone was on silent, Freddie looked up at the board once again and even answered a question to make up for his previous misdemeanour, even though no-one knew about it apart from him.

About two minutes later, Freddie felt a small buzz come from his pocket, and when he stealthily checked his phone he saw that Sam had replied, "not coming in today mamas got big plans that don't involve school later nub." Sighing heavily, Freddie stuck his phone back into his pocket and tried to focus on what his teacher was trying to outline in the section of the book they were reading; The Great Gatsby.

"And so," the teacher continued, unaware of Freddie's minor act of delinquency, "One of the main themes of the book is the idea that life is fleeting, perhaps suggesting that the writer is trying to encourage the reader to go out and take some risks, to live their own lives and enjoy it, before it is too late." With this closing note, the bell rang, and the class began to pack up their belongings. Freddie, however, remained seated at his desk, as he contemplated his teacher's comment on the Great Gatsby, and after giving Sam's desk a last fleeting glance grabbed his bag, stuffed his books inside and flung it over his shoulder, before running out of the classroom, a determined and excited look upon his face as he pressed his phone up against his ear.

"Carly?" he asked, as the person on the other end of the line confirmed this to be true, "Hi. I need a favour."

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><p>Sam was currently standing in the middle of aisle three of the Seattle branch of Wal-Mart, blocking many angry and busy people's paths as she gazed up at an object on the topmost shelf, an object so wonderful and breath taking she had only ever though it had existed in dreams prior to this day. It had to be a mirage, she thought to herself in an attempt to stop herself from getting her hopes up, a mere figment of her imagination, but there could be no mistaking that aroma, a mix of savoury, succulent and salty combined with a sweet and syrupy outer coating. It was real. The giant, slowly rotating, ten pound heavy honey glazed ham being cooked in front of her was actually real. Now all she had to work out was if she had enough money to buy it, or if she'd have to pretend to be yet another pregnant teenager to somehow sneak it out of the store.<p>

Suddenly, she felt someone's eyes staring at her from behind, a trick she had picked up from many years of prank pulling. If it was that creepy old guy from aisle eighteen, who had been leering at her in an extremely un-gentlemanly way, she felt she had no choice but to turn around and kick him where it hurt; Mama didn't give second chances. Before spinning around to launch her attack, however, Sam felt a stirring in her stomach that wasn't from her need for the giant ham in front of her. The eyes looking at her didn't feel like the old guy's, they felt warm, different…

She turned around slowly, realising who the person gazing at her was a split second before she saw them with her own eyes. Sure enough, leaning casually against the shelves with his arms crossed loosely over his chest, a large smirk covering his face, was none other than Mister Fredward Benson himself.

Trying to cover up her surprise by feigning a nonchalant expression instead, and failing miserably, Sam dug her hands into her pockets and greeted Freddie with a simple, "Benson."

"Puckett," he replied amicably, his mouth upturning into an even wider smile. Despite Sam's best efforts, he had caught the look of surprise in her eyes before she had quickly covered it up, a look he was not used to seeing on the blonde headed demon, who was always prepared for whatever the world threw at her. Freddie gave her a quick once over, and at the sight of her scuffed up Converses, striped red top (wait, he thought Sam hated stripes?) and the confused yet dazzling look in her shining eyes, (those things had hypnotic powers, he swore,) he felt his body lift from the ground slightly as he let go of the breath he had been holding in since he had darted out of the school gates. It seemed he had made the right choice after all, even without the extensive planning and pros and cons list, as he was never one for spontaneity. Unless, of course, he thought, smiling, Sam Puckett was involved. All he knew was that in the brief few seconds he had been in Sam's presence he had felt happier than he had felt all morning, and then some. She just had that affect on a person.

Though she tried her best not to, Sam couldn't help but return Freddie's infectious smile, before walking up to him, nudging him affectionately in the stomach and strolling off down the aisle. Shaking his head, the large grin remaining on his face, Freddie spun around and ran to catch up with Sam, easily falling into step with her casual stride.

"So how'd you find me, nub," Sam asked, bumping into his side good-naturedly and throwing a smirk in his direction.

"Pear phone tracker," Freddie replied with pride, turning slightly to see Sam's reaction.

She nodded at his answer, before quickly responding, "I knew it'd be something weird and stalkerish like that."

Freddie let out a loud chuckle, a sound that warmed Sam's heart, and swiftly quipped, "Well, those are my middle names; weird and stalkerish."

"Huh," Sam retorted, her voice filled with faux surprise, "I thought your middle names were dork and nerd. Oh, no wait, its mama's boy, isn't it, or was it freakish nub…"

As their light but highly entertaining banter continued, Freddie knew he had made the right choice, even if cutting school meant having to face the inner turmoil and guilt he would probably feel the next day, (he had informed the office staff at Ridgeway High that he had a dentist appointment, and knew that his mother wouldn't worry about his whereabouts until after school hours, so at least he didn't have to worry about having to face the wrath of Crazy for missing his afternoon classes.) In fact, he probably was due for a day off at some point anyway, seeing as he hadn't had a sick day since junior high, and even then it was just his mother keeping him home after convincing herself that he had somehow contracted mad cow disease and needed to be nursed back to health.

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><p>"So, why'd you cut school?" Sam mumbled, more to herself than to the nub beside her, though it was loud enough to bring Freddie out of his drifting mind.<p>

"What?"

"I asked why you cut school, dork," Sam repeated, more strongly than the first time, a look of curiosity filling her azure eyes as she gazed up at Freddie; when did the dishrag get so tall?

"I missed you," Freddie replied simply, an answer that hadn't just slipped out accidentally or he would regret saying later, (despite the fact that Sam would almost definitely jibe him about it for many months to come,) because it was true; he had missed Samantha Puckett and he didn't care who knew it, even if it was the crazy blonde whirlwind herself.

Sam's eyebrows shot upwards in surprise at this comment, but she didn't question Freddie's answer further for fear of what she might say in return; had he really missed her for the mere day they had been apart?

"So," Freddie stated, startling a dazed Sam into focusing on her companion once more, "What 'big plans' did you have planned for today, and how can I be of assistance?"

At this comment, Sam grinned like the Cheshire cat, a look that instead of making Freddie feel reassured made his stomach drop as it filled with a nervous, slightly nauseous feeling, what had she planned this time?

"Nothing illegal," Freddie quickly added to his statement, making Sam's grin drop from her face, "I am not committing a felony, Puckett, I've already suffered through one month of detention for you and I refuse to go to jail too."

Sam sighed heavily, "That was a whole year ago, Benson, are you never going to let that go?"

"Nope," Freddie replied cheerfully, though a sarcastic undertone was clearly present in his voice, "I'm going to hold it over your head for the rest of your life."

Sam gave Freddie her famous death stare, before pausing in her tracks and pretending to contemplate her now limited options of plans for their day together. After a while, she replied, "Does graffiti-ing my mom's ex-boyfriend's house count as a felony?"

"Yes, it does," Freddie responded wearily, though a small smile was growing on his face.

"How about a bit of minor shop lifting-"

"Nothing illegal, Sam!" Freddie exclaimed, though he was now openly laughing.

"Ooh, I know-"

"No," Freddie cut off Sam's excited plan making.

"You didn't even let me finish," Sam said angrily, punching Freddie in the shoulder, albeit quite lightly.

"And yet somehow I already knew what my answer would be," Freddie smirked at her.

"Actually," Sam responded, dragging out the word for emphasis, "I had a whole other plan in mind, one that is completely legal and would be even be approved by your insane mother herself."

Pausing apprehensively, Freddie narrowed his eyes at the innocent looking Sam in front of him, before warily replying, "Go on."

"Well, first, we're going to need some supplies, and as I have no money I guess your buying," Sam began walking towards the fresh food aisle, before halting and turning back to face Freddie, "Unless…"

"I said no shoplifting, Sam!" Freddie yelled, causing an elderly lady to stop and stare at him suspiciously. Great, Freddie thought, chuckling as he and a laughing Sam ran away from the woman who was currently shouting out for an employee to come and expel the 'teenage delinquents' from the store before they robbed the place clean out. Now he was going to get arrested without even having committed a crime; only Sam could manage to get him into this one. It was going to be an interesting afternoon indeed.

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><p>"What about that one?" Freddie asked, pointing up to a fluffy white cloud that was travelling across the clear blue sky, its slow pace reminding Freddie of a tortoise plodding along on a hot summer's day; even if it took his a while to reach his destination he always knew he'd make it there in the end. After the pair's speedy shopping trip for a variety of snacks that would have made Dale Winton proud, Supermarket Sweep was one of Freddie's favourite shows growing up, Sam had lead Freddie to their local park for a lazy afternoon of picnic eating and lounging about on the grassy terrain; a Sam Puckett speciality. After having consumed the mass amounts of food that they had purchased, Freddie was currently sprawled on his back next to a surprisingly tranquil Sam, she was always at her calmest after a good meal, as she defined what she thought the more oddly shaped clouds most looked like.<p>

"A fire truck," she said with utmost confidence, causing Freddie to tilt his head sideways and give her a condescending look.

"No way," Freddie scorned, intersecting his opinions on the cloud's official shape definition, "It looks more like a dinosaur than a fire truck."

"You thought the last three clouds were dinosaur shaped, you big nerd," Sam responded, nudging Freddie gently with her shoulder, "And what Mama says goes. I hereby dub the aforementioned cloud to be known as the fire truck of the sky forevermore."

"Well let's hope it hits Carly's apartment first on its noble quest across the heavens," Freddie chuckled, "God knows they need one when Spencer's through with, well, with anything."

Even though it hadn't been one of Freddie's finest jokes, Sam smile turned into a chuckle, which grew louder and louder until she had rolled onto her side in stitches of uncontrollable laughter, the image of Spencer setting pretty much every object in their apartment alight set very firmly in her mind.

Freddie soon joined in with Sam's infectious snorts of laughter, and found himself turning to face her as well, the bodies and faces just inches apart. It was at this point that Freddie realised how much their friendship had grown in the past few years, because he knew that if they had been this physically close in their freshman year of high school Sam would have pounded his face in by now. With her hair splayed messily over her face, another image entered Freddie's mind, one from the evening he had spent with Sam a mere few months ago, the night that had finally moved on from Carly and in turn spent many hours considering the beauty of the blonde headed demon in front of him. In fact, as even more of her never-ending Rapunzel-esque hair fell in front of face, Freddie fought the urge to reach out and tuck it behind her tiny pixie ears; one of the many confusing urges he had been feeling around Sam recently and ignoring as best he could.

Eventually, their laughter subsided, and Sam sat up again, reaching over Freddie to grab the last fat cake before jumping up and stretching, her lazy few minutes already forgotten. Freddie begrudgingly got up also, even though he probably could have taken a nap under the pleasant sunshine, as his mother would be home soon and, regrettable though it would be, he knew he'd have to leave Sam-Land and enter reality once more.

"So, did you have fun today, nub?" Sam asked, as Freddie quickly scooped up their rubbish and dumped it into the closely located garbage bin, disposing the remnants of their afternoon together.

"Surprisingly enough, I did," he openly admitted, "Although I was expecting an afternoon with Sam Puckett to be a bit more exciting than a picnic in the park."

"Hey, you were the one who said no felonies," Sam warned, though she was smiling, "I had to work with what I had; a scaredy cat who's afraid of his own shadow."

"I am not a scaredy cat, Sam!" Freddie protested, before grumbling, "And that shadow thing only happened once, when I was thirteen and it was dark and creepy outside."

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><p>Laughing at his previous comment, Sam began taunting Freddie about the 'shadow event,' as she liked to call it, although this quickly died down as they passed Wal-Mart once again, an evil smile growing on Sam's face as she spotted something in the distance.<p>

"Not a scaredy cat, huh?" Sam asked, to which Freddie nodded confidently, "Then why don't you prove it." She pointed at the item she had noticed before which her hawk-like vision, and as Freddie spun around to see what she was gesturing to his smug face fell dramatically.

"Oh no, Sam, remember I said-"

"Calm down, cracker boy, it's not illegal," she said, running up to the item and pushing it towards Freddie, "One ride. That's all I'm asking for. Then you shall be officially initiated as my partner in crime, and I'll never call you a scaredy cat again."

Freddie looked down at the large, silver trolley in front of him and sighed heavily. He had come this far, it wasn't everyday he cut school after all, what harm could one ride down a hill in a Wal-Mart shopping trolley do? Not to mention the fact that earning the term 'partner in crime' in relation to Sam would undoubtedly give him an odd sense of accomplishment and pride.

He knew the answer his mother would give him if asked what harm a single trolley ride could bring; broken bones, internal bleeding, mad cow disease (he was apparently due for a relapse any day now) the possibilities were endless. And yet it was this fear and uncertainty that excited Freddie more and more by the second, as the seemingly impossible prospect became a reality.

"OK," he agreed, causing Sam to hi-five him and slap him on the back in congratulation, "But on one condition. You come with me."

Sam raised her eyebrows at this request, but soon responded with, "Sure. Mama ain't no chicken."

"Mama isn't a chicken," Freddie corrected, causing Sam to roll her eyes, "You see, this is why we shouldn't cut school."

"Oh, hush your yapping and get into the freaking trolley, Benson," Sam quipped, as she pushed the silver beast in front of her to the top of the hill and clambered into it. Freddie quickly complied, pushing down the break before jumping over the edge gracefully, only to accidentally squash his foot against Sam's side in the process. After some quick re-adjustment, they were lucky that because Wal-Mart trolleys were so over-sized they could both fit comfortably inside it, the team was ready for take off.

"Ready?" Sam asked, the excitement growing in her voice.

"As I'll ever be," Freddie replied nervously, as his stomach filled with the sort of uncertain anticipation he usually ever felt on roller coaster rides and just before the start of each iCarly web-show.

"Then start the countdown, tech boy."

"In 5, 4, 3, 2…" Freddie held his breath, and reached back to release the break, causing the teetering trolley to tip forward over the crux of the hill and begin its descent.

Sam, ever the enthusiast, leaned forward in an eager attempt to hasten the trolley's initial slow speed, causing Freddie to instinctively reach in front of him and grab the back of her T-shirt, his fear increasing by the second. Sam reached behind her and unhooked his grip from the fabric of her shirt, before grabbing his other hand and raising them with her own in the air.

"WHOO!" she screamed, as the trolley gained speed and began rolling down the hill at, in Freddie's opinion, and unnaturally high level of speed.

"How do we stop this thing?" Freddie yelled over the rush of air blowing against his face, his stomach dropping as he realised a fatal flaw in their plan.

"No idea!" Sam laughed back, bringing their arms back down into the trolley, "Just sit back and enjoy the ride, Benson!"

Suddenly, a small bump in the road jolted Sam's seating, causing her to lean back into Freddie's chest. He tensed up initially, but as she made no effort to amend what fate probably thought was a hilarious practical joke he relaxed into both their new positioning and the ride itself.

"WHOOO!" he screamed, as the whizzed down the hill, the houses on either side of the thankfully empty road turning into a blur.

"That's more like it, you crazy dare-devil!" Sam mocked, as she crazily waved her hands in the air once again to make Freddie laugh.

Glancing down at the screaming girl in front of him, Freddie couldn't help but wonder if his recent 'dare-devilish' actions had been impacted by Sam, in all her risk taking glory. Sam had been a large part of his life for a long time now, but had she actually changed him, in a good way, by making him more adventurous and accepting when trying new things, no matter how dangerous they were. He knew that they were changing and growing up, he sure as hell wasn't the scared child he was when he first met Sam all those years ago, and she wasn't the same wild child that she was back then, although the differences to her present state were subtle on the surface, he just found it hard to comprehend how much things had changed in the past few years.

He just felt that after everything they'd been through together, simply being with Sam was as easy as breathing; the comical banter, the joking around and yes, even the fights, he loved every minute of it. Maybe that's why he skipped school today, not only because he missed her, but because he felt as if he was lost without her presence by his side; Samantha Puckett, crazy best friend, lazy companion - partner in crime.

With these words spinning around his head, Freddie wondered how he could possibly live without Sam's huge involvement in his more than mundane life, without her every comment making him laugh or every smile making his heart soar, before he frowned slightly as a sudden thought came over him; did he have something more than friendship growing in his mixed up brain and pounding heart? Looking back down at Sam, Freddie shook his head in disbelief, there couldn't be, she just thought of him as a friend, that's all, a feeling he reciprocated fully and which did not extend to anything of the romantic sort. But as Sam turned around in the trolley to smile up at him, her eyes gleaming with excitement and laughter and hair flying around her in a halo of golden curls, Freddie felt his heart skip a beat, and tried to ignore the voice in his head that suddenly wasn't so sure anymore.

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><p><strong>A  N** - So Chapter 4, did you guys like it? You know the drill, let me know any of your favourite parts / lines / unicorn names by clicking the doobily-doo. Random mention about my life - I finished the first draft of my English coursework essay, YAY! *dances* The next piece is creative, much more my forte as I'm sure you'd assume, so I'm looking forward to that. New update in a week, unless I get abducted by aliens or school work gets unexpectedly crazy, LOVE TO YOU ALL!

Please Review, Click the Blue!

~ Mim


	6. Chapter 5: Truces and Tears

**Summary** - When Freddie is given an essay to write entitled "What is Love?" how will he react when he reads his work aloud to his English class and finally realises how he feels for a certain blonde headed demon?

**Disclaimer - **iCarly is not mine. I'm not awesome enough to own something as amazing as that. A rock called Jerry, however, who enjoys Pina Coladas and getting caught in the rain, well that's a whole different story...

**A/N** - Hello, my pretties *evil witch cackle* How are we all this fine week? My reviewers, my crew, (sorry, gangster talk isn't really my thing) I love you all, and you know it - Quinn, irishfan62, Forwoodx3, Sharksbean, Nola, deetrixjaay, DannySamLover20, Tomboy22, Hi my name is Mia, purplehAM138 and KittiesOnTheDarkSide - STAY AWESOME!

Quinn - For Mrs. Sparklepants, leave 1 million dollars in a clear plastic bag in the alleyway behind the Waffle House, you know the one, and wait for further instructions.

Nola - Thanks! Was this update ASAP-y enough? (Great English skills there!)

So this chapter has been split into 3 mini shots as opposed to the usual format, and is the longest thing I have ever written, so I hope you guys like it! After this, we'll be travelling back in time (fire up the Delorean, Doc) to Sophomore year and seeing things from more of Sam's POV. ENJOY!

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><p><em>You put up with their crazy times, laugh with them in the happy times and comfort them during the sad times, because you know they'd do exactly the same for you.<em>

**The Crazy Times**

**Junior Year - June (17 years old)**

"Put the pork chop down and step away from Gibby, Sam," Freddie said cautiously as he stepped closer and closer to the raging blonde headed demon before him as Sam, yielding the large slab of meat in her hands, circled a quavering Gibby.

"NEVER!" she screamed in return, before viciously pouncing on her prey.

"Put it down, Sam, I mean it, wait, no you can't - SAM, THAT PORK CHOP WAS NOT MEANT FOR BEATING UP GIBBY, IT WAS MEANT FOR EATING! For the love of God, Sam - NOT IN HIS PANTS!"

So the day hadn't exactly started out well. The scene that Freddie had stumbled into as he entered the iCarly studio for the team's regular summer Sunday run through was one he was not expecting; Sam was yelling profanities at a spluttering Gibby, (who had officially become a part of the gang and web-show a couple of months ago,) while he tried to struggle out of the jump rope that he was tied up in, courtesy of Sam, in an attempt to explain himself. Of course, before Freddie could say a word Sam had stormed to the other side of the room and pulled out a large pork chop from behind the oversized prop car in the corner of the room, before turning around to face a now free Gibby, a fiery blaze burning out the cool azure of her eyes, giving her a much scarier appearance. Well, scarier than usual, Freddie supposed to himself, though no less beautiful, bringing them up to date to the day's current events.

Braving the blonde beast before him, Freddie pulled off his bag and threw it onto the floor before marching up to Sam and dragging her off of Gibby, her legs flailing angrily in the air as she attempted to escape from his surprisingly iron tight clasp around her waist.

"Calm down, Sam, just breath, remember what breathing is?" Freddie said in a soothing voice, which only seemed to anger Sam more, as she screamed, "GET OFF ME, NUB, THAT STINKING MERMAID DESERVES TO DIE!"

"What did you do, Gib?" Freddie asked his supposedly only sane friend in the room in an exasperated voice, "Murder the world's fattest priest?"

"Worse," Sam growled, having finally grown limp in Freddie's grasp, "He ate the last piece of my honey glazed ham," she accented each word heavily, staring angrily in Gibby's direction.

Freddie froze, and stared at the back of Sam's head in disbelief as he tried to comprehend what Sam had just told him; she was attacking Gibby with a pork chop because he had eaten her ham? Then again, it was Sam…

As Sam and Gibby argued over the importance of ham, and how even though it was in the Shay's fridge, and probably belonged to Spencer, Sam held dibs over any meat in a five mile radius of wherever she happened to be, Freddie took the opportunity of his current position to take in the confusing yet strangely comforting combination of aroma's surrounding Sam; her sweet strawberry-shampooed smelling golden curls mixed with the thick, smoky odour of the pork chop to create a strangely fitting fragrance for the tiny blonde whirlwind in front of him. But wait, there was something else; something new added into the mix Freddie was so familiar to...

"Are you wearing vanilla perfume?" he asked suddenly, interrupting Sam and Gibby's heated, yet slightly repetitive argument. At this comment, Sam managed to struggle out of Freddie's arms to turn and stare at him, a confused look on her face, "What?"

"Nothing," Freddie quickly amended his statement, before walking over to his computer station and pretending to set up something for the rehearsal, "Nothing at all." Stupid brain making stupid mouth say stupid things.

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><p>Before Sam could further question what Freddie had just accidentally blurted out, Carly came running into the studio, panting heavily as she held out a large honey glazed ham, "There you go Sam, as promised, one freshly bought honey glazed - why are you holding a pork chop as a weapon?" Interrupting her own train of thought, Carly glared at Sam as she guiltily tried to hide the meat behind her back, to no avail.<p>

"You knew about this ham debacle and you left her alone with Gibby?" Freddie asked Carly as he walked back over to the pair; Gibby had scampered behind the small walk way where guests on the show often waited when Carly had run in.

"I said that I'd get her a new ham if she promised to leave Gibby alone, and I thought that if I confiscated her butter sock everything would be fine!"

"Well, it was a good plan in theory," Freddie posed, turning to glare at Sam also, though his eyes were twinkling with a hidden smile, "I guess we never thought about secret weapon number two - the Pork Chop of Death."

"Speaking of my weapons of choice, where is my butter sock," Sam asked, trying to avoid Carly's death glare as she changed the subject, "I miss that little guy."

"So do I," Gibby groaned, finally emerging from his safe house whilst keeping distant from his attacker, "The pork chop was way worse than the butter sock. Trust me."

"Sam, what do you have to say to Gibby," Carly prompted, pushing her best friend towards Gibby, whose arms were crossed expectantly.

Sam walked slowly up to Gibby, before gently placing her hand on his shoulder and saying, "I'm always here if you need to talk about anything Gib, you know, like your little mermaid problem or need to steal other people's food..."

"SAM!"

"Fine! I'm sorry for almost bludgeoning you to death with a pork chop," she mumbled quietly, looking down at her shoes in a child like manner, though she was far from innocent.

"Thank you," Carly told her, smiling, "Here's your ham, now go play nice with the other kids."

Sam grinned and hugged Carly, and as she wandered off to sit down on the step and proceed to gnaw away at her ham, Freddie walked up to Carly and nudged her gently with his elbow.

"A situation well diffused, I think. You'd make a great teacher one day, Carls."

Carly laughed, and they both watched as Gibby offered Sam his travel sized ketchup bottle as an odd sort of peace offering. She grunted and accepted, before slowly nodding, accepting his truce and allowed him to sit beside her as they planned how they would execute their newest segment, "What's that flavour you just slapped my tongue with?"

"Maybe," Carly thought aloud to Freddie, "But if I ever got a kid like Sam in my class I'd probably jump out the window."

"Hey, you love her really," Freddie laughed, expecting Carly to smile and roll her eyes in return. Instead, she turned around and gave him a pensive, yet rather pointed look, before saying, "Yeah, but we all do, don't we? Love Sam, I mean. Some of us in more ways than others." And with that confusing comment, she turned back around and walked off to talk to Sam, a knowing smile on her face.

Freddie frowned slightly, as he tried to decipher what Carly was trying to say with her last less-than-subtle statement; did she think that he had some sort of thing with Sam, which, of course, was a far from the truth as possible. That could never happen. Nope. Not now, not ever. They just didn't think of each other that way.

But as he considered this comment, Freddie couldn't help but think back to how he had felt when holding back Sam from killing Gibby just a few minutes ago, how her intoxicating smell had distracted him from everything else that was going on around him. It was just an observation of course, the noticing of the smells, it wasn't like they meant anything. But vanilla, Freddie thought as he gazed up at Sam, who was now laughing at something Carly had said, in wonder. It didn't fit, nor should it, with her crazy persona, the gentle aroma of home baked goods and calming scented candles. And yet somehow, it did. Sam always managed to do that, zig when he thought she was about to zag, laugh when he thought she was about to punch, beat the living daylights out of their friend when just an hour ago she had been chatting amicably with Freddie on the phone; she was just one completely random, utterly insane surprise after the next.

No, the day hadn't exactly started off well. But now, standing in the studio with his best friends in the world as he watched them break into some random dancing and laugh manically at Gibby's moon walk attempt, Freddie knew that things would always get to their happy place in the end. Yes, he thought, as he unconsciously stared at Sam and smiled at her as span crazily around in circles. They'd get there in the end.

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><p><strong>The Happy Times <strong>

**Senior Year - September (17 years old)**

Freddie walked in the Shay's apartment, brushing a stray brown leaf from his jacket; a sign from the heavens that Autumn and the school season had begun yet again. He had had to stay behind at school for AV club, but had promised Sam that they would have a game of meat golf before she had to go and help her mum get ready for a date with some guy she'd met at the thrift store, so he had rushed home as quickly as he could, not wanting to anger the blonde headed demon for any potential tardiness.

Instead of finding his friends as he usually did; sitting in the kitchen eating a snack (that was usually Sam) or up in Carly's room, he instead found Carly and Sam sprawled out across on the sofa, laughing hysterically without showing signs of stopping anytime soon. Freddie glanced over at the TV, expecting to see and old re-run of Girly Cow playing, but found that it was off. Weird. Had he missed one of Spencer's hilarious escapades? Well, he couldn't see Carly's older brother anywhere in the room. What the fat cake was going on?

"Hey guys," Freddie strolled up to the sofa, as Sam choked out another high string of laughter and actually fell on the sofa by accident. At this, Carly burst into another peal of chuckles and snorts, small tears falling down her face in an uncontrollable haze of pure happiness, "What's going on."

As if finally noticing his presence in the room, Sam glanced up at Freddie from her current position on the floor and let out a shaky, "'Sup, Fredinstein," before struggling into a sitting position and hiccupping a few times. Carly too noticed Freddie and smiled up at him, murmuring a small "Hi," before excusing herself from the room to get a glass of water, laughing all the way to the kitchen.

"Who slipped something into your juice boxes?" Freddie asked, offering Sam a hand to pull her up to standing, which she gladly took, jumping up and accidentally bumping into Freddie, causing another burst into laughter.

"Nothing… it's nothing… it's not even funny," she breathed out, each phrase interrupted by a controlled giggle.

"No, it's not funny," Carly agreed, walking back into the living room, "IT'S HILARIOUS!" And with that, they were off again, leaning against each other for physical support as the laughing began once more.

Freddie raised his eyebrows at them, before strengthening his stance and crossing his arms over his chest, "Do I even want to know what's going on?"

"Probably not," Carly admitted, before she jumped and checked her watch, "Oh fruit cake, if I don't leave right now I'm going to miss the last showing of the new Twiblood film!" She grabbed her coat and bag from the corner of the room, and bolted towards the door, before calling back, "Are you sure you guys don't want to come?"

Their response was unanimous; "NYEAH!"

Carly grinned, "That's cool, Gibby's been dying to see it for ages, I'll just invite him. Don't eat all the food while I'm gone!"

"No promises!" Sam called back, chuckling to herself.

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><p>She turned around from waving Carly off to see Freddie smirking at her, his eyebrows still raised expectantly.<p>

"What?" she asked in a confused voice, as she made her way to the fridge to grab a snack.

"You know what! You and Carly were practically killing yourselves with laughter when I walked in, and I feel out of the loop. So spill, what was it - one of Carly's hilariously unfunny knock knock jokes? Random comments from iCarly viewers? Ooh, I know-"

"Shut your pie hole, Benson, it was nothing like that," Sam laughed, as she slid onto the sofa with a surprising amount of ease for a girl holding a large turkey leg wrapped in bacon, "It probably won't even make any sense if I tried to explain it to you."

Freddie sat down beside her, practically leaning against her leg in interest, whether it was faux or real Sam couldn't tell, "Try me."

Sam sighed heavily, but momentarily placed her 'small' snack on the coffee table before retailing the story of the infectious laughter, which began an hour ago with Carly and herself drawing tiny people on their toes. As she tried to explain what had been so funny about the lamp and George the Bra flying out the window, Freddie stared at her, smiling every time she smiled and chuckling at what had sounded like a crazy afternoon.

Soon the pair of them were both doubling over in laughter, falling against the sofa with Sam's head leaning against his shoulder. She was laughing because of the story, which no doubt brought back memories from the last couple of hours, but Freddie was laughing due to a completely different reason; because he loved seeing Sam happy. It was all he really wanted for her, to be happy, and at the sight of those shining eyes and stunning smile, how could not stare at her and grin when she was doing, well, that. That thing she always did, with her face and smile and tiny dimple; it was just too much for a boy to take. Even a boy who had completely platonic feelings for said girl. He couldn't help himself. She was hypnotising.

After a few minutes, the laughter subsided, and from her current position on Freddie's shoulder Sam asked, "You really thought that was funny?"

"I think that anything you say is hilarious, so yes," Freddie admitted, causing Sam to lift up her head and swat his arm before jumping up from the sofa and grabbing the two golf clubs from the floor.

"Meat golf?" she asked, swinging the clubs from side to side gently, a competitive look in her eyes.

"Yeah, I could putt some meat," Freddie replied, getting up from the sofa and reaching for the golf club. Before he could take it from her hands, however, Sam swung the club behind his legs and hit him behind his knees, causing his legs to buckle and him to fall to the floor.

As Sam chuckled manically, Freddie looked up at Sam from his position on the floor, and couldn't help but laugh with her as he reached out and pulled down on her leg, hard, causing her to fall on top of him as they ended up in a heap of limbs and laughter. After some swift readjustment, the pair found themselves staring directly into the other's eyes, only inches apart. Freddie blushed slightly and looked away, before mumbling "Truce?" at the blonde headed demon on top of him. She got up slowly, and reached down her hand to help Freddie up. "Truce."

He smiled at her and she returned the gesture, and as they began setting up for meat golf (whilst yelling "smack talk" at each other from opposite sides of the room) Freddie's gaze never left Sam, who was simply radiating happiness from every pore of her body. Yes, when Sam was happy she was hypnotising; and quite unsurprisingly, that made Freddie pretty happy too.

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><p><strong>The Sad Times<strong>

**Senior Year - November (17 years old)**

"Hey, Freddie," Carly called out worriedly to Freddie as he exited his front door on his way out to the movie theatre.

"What's up, Carly?" he asked, smiling slightly and then, upon noticing her concerned face, frowning to match her anxiously emotive face, "Is everything alright?"

Carly nodded, though looked unsure, before saying, "Yeah, I'm sure everything's fine, it's just that I haven't heard from Sam all day; we were meant to meet up and have a movie marathon tonight but she's not responding to any of my texts or calls."

"Do you think something's wrong?" Freddie asked, his anxiety growing. He usually heard from Sam in the evening, on the days they didn't see each other, when he called her or she bothered to pick up the phone and make contact with him, so Freddie hadn't been that worried about her whereabouts until this point.

"Probably not, she may have just forgotten," Carly admitted; Sam wasn't particularly organised after all, "But I don't know, something just feels… off about the whole thing. What are you doing?"

Carly was responding to Freddie whipping out his phone and writing a quick text, his fingers skipping lightly over the worn keys, before pressing send and shoving his phone back into his pocket. "Just telling Amy I can't meet her for a movie tonight, it's cool."

"No, Freddie," Carly protested quickly, "Don't worry, I'm sure Sam is fine, don't cancel your date."

"It's not a date, Carls, it's just two friends seeing a movie together," Freddie said truthfully, though he suspected that Amy wanted more from their recently formed relationship, "And I want to make sure Sam is safe. Amy won't mind." Another truth, as Amy was one of the kindest, more understanding people Freddie had ever met, bar Carly and perhaps Spencer, who was a surprisingly good listener.

Amy was a transfer student from Michigan who had just moved to Seattle in September for the start of her senior year, and had almost immediately taken a shine to Freddie, a fact that both flattered and caused mass confusion to the boy in question. She was pretty, intelligent and at times quite funny, but instead of asking her out Freddie had maintained the boundaries of their relationship to being just friends, for now anyway. But why, Freddie asked himself numerous times, had he done that, and why was he now cancelling what could have been a wonderful evening with Amy to search for his best friend, Sam, who for some reason probably didn't want to be found in the first place. Freddie didn't know the answers to these questions, no matter how many times he mulled it over in his head, but the deed had been done now, and there was no going back; it was time for the search to begin.

"I'll try calling her, and if she doesn't pick up I guess we should split up and look for clues," Freddie planned decisively, "You'd better fire up the Mystery Machine, Carls."

Carly smiled slightly at Freddie's reference, but her eyebrows were still furrowed in an anxious manner as she continued to worry about Sam.

"OK, I'll go check at the Groovy Smoothie and that meatball sub place she likes so much, why don't you-"

"I think I've got some ideas about where she might be," Freddie interrupted Carly, before smiling and nudging her arm gently, "Text me if you find her?"

"Same here," Carly replied, before opening the door to her apartment; she needed to get some supplies before she headed out.

"Later, Shaggy," Freddie joked, as he waved her off.

"Good luck, Scooby," Carly chuckled, closing the door behind her. She leant against it and sighed, before heading upstairs to get her bag. She hoped that Sam was alright, but she always got this gnawing feeling in her gut when something was wrong, and right now her stomach was at risk of exploding. Where could Sam be, and why was she avoiding her calls? And more importantly, why did she have the sinking feeling that Sam's disappearance was somehow her fault?

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><p>Though Freddie didn't know why Sam had disappeared from Carly's radar, having spent to majority of the past five years in her presence he still had a vague idea about her possible whereabouts. These assumptions proved to be true the minute he had arrived at his destination and smelt the warming aroma of fried chicken emerging from the large window before him. Sticking his head around the edge of the glass, Freddie spotted Sam sitting on his old deck chair, staring out across the Seattle skyline thoughtfully.<p>

He knocked on the window gently, causing her jump to turn around suddenly, only to sigh and let out a small smile upon realising who it was before gesturing him to come in, or rather, out.

As he climbed through the window and sat on the ledge, Freddie chuckled and said, "Well, this brings back memories."

Sam smiled back, looking around at the seemingly timeless fire escape they were sitting on, before getting up and coming to sit next to him, "I just needed somewhere quiet to think about stuff, you know?"

Freddie nodded, nudging his leg against hers gently, "I know."

They sat together, in a comfortable silence, and just as Freddie was about to ask Sam why she had ditched Carly for their movie night, Sam blurted out, "Me and Tony broke up."

Freddie raised his eyebrows quickly, partially because of Sam's comment, but mostly because she had actually told him what was really on her mind; opening up to each other wasn't really a big part of their friendship, or rather, wasn't a large part of Sam's personality.

Freddie waited for her to continue, not wanting to push her over the edge, and slowly but surely Sam's head raised and she continued, "Or rather I broke up with him. This morning."

"If that guy hurt you, Sam-" Freddie warned, causing a small bubble of laughter to emit from Sam's mouth as she inadvertently interrupted him.

"Don't worry Benson; I can hold my own against a few douchebags; I've grown accustomed to it, living in Douchebag Central, after all."

Freddie smirked slightly, before replying, "I know you can. I was just going offer to hold him down while you punched."

As Sam laughed at the image of the pair of them taking down Tony, a six foot tall senior from their school, Freddie thought about the jerk who had stomped over Sam's heart, though she still seemed to be in high spirits. The pair had only begun dating a few weeks ago, after Tony had asked Sam out before English class, and despite Freddie's initial over-protectiveness and wariness about his motives (what, he's allowed to feel protective about his friends, right?) he had to admit that Tony seemed like a nice guy. Though Sam had seemed surprised at first, she accepted his proposal and had seemed genuinely happy about it all; the pair had been pretty much inseparable for the past two weeks.

Freddie's face grew soft once more, "You want to tell me what happened?"

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><p>Sam sighed, and looked down at the ground, but nodded slightly as she began her tale, mumbling quietly, "I went to the Groovy Smoothie to meet up with him for our date, and I overheard him talking to his friend, Jerry," Sam paused her story as Freddie's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.<p>

"You know, Jerry?" Afro Jerry?" Sam prompted, causing Freddie's face to relax in recognition, "Yeah, Afro Jerry, go on."

"Well, Jerry was asking how things were going between Tony and me, and Tony laughed and said he was only a few more dates away from getting to-" Sam's voice sputtered out, as she dropped her head down once again, her long blonde curls shielding her from Freddie's intense gaze.

"From getting to?" Freddie gently prompted.

Sam looked back up at him, the threat of tears pooling up in her crystal blue eyes, "Before getting to her pretty brunette friend."

"Oh Sam, I'm so sorry-" Freddie began, before Sam quickly waved away his apologetic stutters.

"It's fine, I don't care about the jerk, I know I can do better," Sam continued, quickly wiping away the few tears that had fallen down her face in her moment of weakness, "It's just that I couldn't handle talking to Carly today, or seeing her, or anything."

"But it wasn't Carly's fault, Sam."

Sam sighed angrily, as if Freddie didn't understand what she was trying to explain, "I know it's not Carly's fault, it's just, I can't take it anymore!" she shouted, jumping up from her perch on the fire escape and making Freddie jump.

"I love Carly like a sister, more than a sister actually seeing as me and Melanie aren't exactly best buds, but everyone always prefers her over me; boys always overlook me and head straight for the 'pretty brunette' beside me, everyone at school wants to be 'BFFs' with her, not that I can blame them, I mean she's cute and funny and get's good grades, I mean she's just so freaking perfect all the time! And then there's you," Sam stopped her rant, staring directly and sadly into Freddie's confused eyes, "You can't deny it, when we first met all you wanted was to be in Carly's life, and I was just her insane mean friend who you'd have happily gotten rid of in a heartbeat."

"Maybe back then, but Sam-"

"And it's not just with Carly, either," Sam continued, pacing up and down the fire escape, "I'm always second best, the leftover dregs of stew at the bottom of the bowl, I mean, my own mother loves my sister more than me, she thinks Melanie is some sort of prodigy child and I'm just some baboon she accidentally picked up from the zoo; do you know how hard it is to make her proud of me?" Sam sat back down next to Freddie, and was staring intently into his eyes, unaware of what his strong gaze was having on him, "I tried once, you know, at school and stuff, but Melanie always had me beat, and after a while I just gave up, knowing that I could never achieve what she managed to grasp so easily." The tears were openly falling from Sam's face now, and she didn't even try to stop them or wipe them away, "Just once, I'd like to hear my mum say, 'Hey twerp, I love you,' or 'You did good on that iCarly episode tonight, you little turd,' just… something. Anything."

Before she could protest, Freddie opened up his arms to Sam and pulled her into his chest, as she cried noisily into his chest. He had never seen her like this, so hurt and broken, and even though he knew it wasn't his fault, Freddie felt the heavy weight of guilt in his stomach and wanted to go and punch the living daylights out of Sam's stupid ex-boyfriend's face; don't even get him started on Mrs Puckett. Sam was stronger than this, or so Freddie had thought, but apparently the tough persona was shielding the world from knowing what was really going on in that mixed up little head of hers.

As her crying slowly started subsiding, Sam finally realised the compromising position she was currently in, with her arms wrapped tightly around Freddie and her head buried deeply into his chest as he slowly rubbed soothing circles on her back. She gradually sat back up, pushing against Freddie's comforting hands when all she really wanted to do was let him hold her all night. But that wasn't what Sam Puckett did. Sure, she'd had a small relapse, but there was no way she was going to let that nub take pity on her, even if that nub was one of her closest friends.

Just as she was about to tell Freddie that she didn't want his sympathy and ask him to leave, a fact that was completely untrue but would hopefully protect her from any future mishaps, Freddie interrupted her thoughts and began speaking to her in a comforting but truthful tone. "I know you think you're always second best Sam and that sometimes people take you for granted or don't appreciate you, but that's just no true; no let me finish." Freddie halted Sam's exclamations before she could utter a word, causing her to pause before nodding slightly, gesturing for him to continue.

"You may not notice it, but you light up every room you're in, with your crazy antics and beautiful laugh and smile." As is if on cue, Sam looked at the floor beneath her and graced the world with her breath-taking, room-lighting-up smile, her face reddening slightly at Freddie's comments, "I mean, I know that when we first met we didn't get along, and sometimes we still don't always see eye to eye, but I've known you for a long time now, and after spending more and more time with you over the past couple of years I know that you are one of the brightest, smartest, funniest girls on the planet. You are special, Sam, never forget that, and don't let jerks like Tony or your mum ever try and tell you anything different, because they're wrong."

Sam was now gazing curiously into Freddie's eyes, and despite the blood rushing to her already blushing face and the fact that he was only inches away from her, she couldn't seem to look away. Freddie smiled at her, also noticing the close distance between the two of them and couldn't help but form a parallel in his mind to their first kiss in this very same spot so many moons ago. All he had to do was lean forward and their lips would be pressed together once more.

Freddie slowly leant in even closer to Sam, and mock whispered, "And don't tell Carly this, but you're kind of my favourite, Princess Puckett."

Sam, who had honestly thought for a split second that her nubbish best friend was about to kiss her (and feared that she wouldn't have objected) leant back and laughed, the short but powerful moment between the two of them still burning at the back of her mind, "You really mean that, Benson?"

Freddie smirked a lopsided smile at her, "With all my heart." And surprisingly enough, it was true. Even though the trio still hung out all together, more often than not Freddie and Sam would meet up at the Groovy Smoothie or would go and see a movie without Carly, like when she was at one of her many after school clubs or seeing her steady boyfriend of five months, Peter. While they were all still close, Freddie felt like he had this connection with Sam he had never felt with Carly, where he could completely be himself; act goofy and admit to things that, while giving him some chiz about it, Sam would accept about him.

Sam grinned back, and still on a high from Freddie's affectionate words leant in a hugged him tightly, sucking up her pride for once in her life and mumbling a quick thank you into his shoulder as he grinned into her masses of hair. Then, as quickly as she had grabbed onto him Sam released him from her grip, leaning back against the railings and smiling up at the moonlit sky.

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><p>"Special?" she asked, grinning, after a few minutes of quiet reflection for the both of them, "Like, stop eating the paste, special?"<p>

"Like stop eating the paste because you're too awe-inspiringly dazzling and intelligent and hilarious to die of toxin poisoning, yes," Freddie elaborated, causing Sam to nod slowly in acceptance while trying to maintain a straight face.

"So I guess this means you're finally over Carly, huh?" she asked another question, albeit much quieter than the first, as if she feared the answer.

Freddie stared at her in disbelief; had she really still thought he was still 'in love' with their best friend?

"Sam, I haven't had those kind of feelings for Carly for over a year now, probably even longer that than," he told her, trying to catch her uneasy gaze, "Ever since our debacle of attempting a relationship, I realised we just weren't right for each other. We never had been, really. Actually, do you want to know exactly when I got over her, to the very day?"

San nodded, though her eyes were narrowed slightly with thought, "OK."

"The night that Jackson Colt lost the Championship, and we had a Galaxy Wars marathon and fell asleep on Carly's sofa and we had cricks in our necks for the next week that just wouldn't go away. Do you remember?"

Sam looked down, blushing slightly, though Freddie couldn't really tell under the darkness of the night, "Yeah, I remember. It was really on that night?"

"Yup. That was the day. One of the best days of my life actually."

Sam assumed Freddie meant that finally getting over Carly was what had made the day so great, as being in unrequited love with your best friend couldn't be all that great, but in reality it was a number of other things that had made that night so memorable for him. The anxiety he had shared with Sam over the MMA fight; the constant rather affectionate bickering and popcorn battles; the softness of her hair and feel of her warm body pressed against his own. The day he had realised just how much he truly cared for Sam.

"You know, if you tell anyone about this, nub-" Sam began, gesturing to what was probably supposed to be her tear stained face as she tried to wade back into shallower waters, away from the deeper topics of conversation she was so unfamiliar with.

"I know, I know, you'll grind my bones to make your fat cake," Freddie joked.

"Exactly," Sam nodded seriously, though her eyes were twinkling dangerously, "Mama's got a reputation to uphold."

"I'd never tell anyone anything you don't want me to Sam," Freddie reminded her, bringing the tone of the conversation back down to one of the deeper levels they had yet to explore thoroughly, "You know that I'm always here for you, right, if you need to talk, or whatever," Freddie's sentence didn't end quite as strongly as it had started.

"I know," she said softly, smiling thoughtfully down at him as a sudden realisation came over her. Before she could over think things, Sam then proceeded to stand up, stretch her legs and jump over the window ledge that lead back to the inside world in one swift movement, before turning back to say, "Why'd you think I came up here in the first place, nub?"

She grinned at Freddie for the last time before walking down the hall, calling back to him to let him know she'd call Carly and make things right between them. Freddie looked at her diminishing figure as it grew smaller and smaller, before disappearing completely as she turned the corner.

Sitting back and sighing, Freddie raised his eyebrows and smiled at Sam's last comment; maybe she trusted him more with her secrets and inner thoughts than he'd originally thought. Though he never thought he'd see the day when he, Fredward Benson, would be comforting a hurting Samantha Puckett, Freddie felt strangely uplifted by what had just occurred between the two of them; it was the next step in their ever blossoming relationship. As friends. Their relationship as friends (he don't know why he felt the need to stress the point to himself in his head.)

Even if it never happened again, Freddie knew he'd treasure this day for the rest of his life, as Sam opening up to someone was a rare thing indeed, and was usually more Carly's forte than his own. Thinking back to his friend Carly, who would be completely ecstatic and relieved after finding out Sam was alright and hadn't been abducted by Bigfoot, Freddie couldn't help but make a brief comparison between his friendship with her and the blonde headed demon that had just left. After a moment's deliberation, he knew that there was a clear winner when it came to who he felt closer to in his heart and mind, and it wasn't the 'pretty brunette one.' It was the witty, crazy, blonde headed firecracker instead. And maybe, just maybe, whether it be because of their history together or simply due to the last few moments they had shared, he was her favourite too.

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><p><strong>AN -** Ta-da! Did you like it? Let me know your favourite section by leaving a review, if you do I will proceed to love you from afar via the interweb FOREVER! :P I kind of bombed my English coursework *face palm* but don't worry, I'll try and juggle my school work and fanfic writing to make sure you guys get the an update by next week, same time, same place. Have a wonderful week everyone! PS. If you hear anything about the next iCarly air date, let me know - I'M DYING OVER HERE, SCHNEIDER!

Shameless plug - If you're a Parks and Rec fan, mosey on over and take have a little look at my one-shot, You and Me and Us - It's fluffy, it's cute, it's Ben and Leslie! *SCREE* :P

Please Review, Click the Blue!

~ Mim


	7. Chapter 6: Cronies and Kebabs

****Summary **- **When Freddie is given an essay to write entitled "What is Love?" how will he react when he reads his work aloud to his English class and finally realises how he feels for a certain blonde headed demon?

**Disclaimer -** So according to my lovely reviewer Sharksbean the next iCarly won't be until next year - If I owned it there'd be a new episode EVERY DAY. But I don't. So yeah. :P

**A/N - **GASP no your eyes do not deceive you, this is a new chapter, and a day early as I'm not going to be here tomorrow, so SURPRISE! As always, much love to my reviewers, Sharksbean, little miss pink ink, irishfan62, DannySamLover20, lillie, KittiesOnTheDarkSide, Keirah, Geekquality, purplehAM138 and Tomboy22, MUCH LOVE TO YOU ALL!

lillie - NEW VIEWSER ALERT - Thank you my dear, adorability is what I do best!

So, we're going back to Sophomore Year for Sam's POV - I'm going to make references to previous chapters, and so I'll write a mini summary for those of you who can't remember what happened… :P

Chapter 1 - Freddie takes the blame for Sam's prank, Sophomore Year - February

Chapter 2 - Tiffany and Freddie's date - Sophomore Year - May (this hasn't happened yet, but I refer to it at the end)

This chapter is dedicated to** (seddie is epic 73)** who wrote a one-shot especially for me. LOVE YOU BOO! Just for you, Carly does not appear in this chapter, as I know how much you love her... :P

My friend Keirah is writing a fic called iDon't Forgive You, it's amazing so far, go check it out!

Longest A/N EVER - here you guys go, hope you like it!

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><p><em>And how do you know when someone loves you?<em>

_They defend your honour, stick up for you when you're too afraid to do it yourself and help you gain the confidence to be a better person someday. _

**Sophomore Year - May**

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><p>"Hey, Benson," a deep voice jeered at Freddie as he walked past the old bike sheds on his way to his AP science class, "We've got a bone to pick with you."<p>

Freddie froze at this comment, as the all too familiar voice brought back many unpleasant memories, and before he could make a run for it and hope he made it back to civilisation in time for third period (he knew he shouldn't have taken that shortcut) a large, muscular arm reached out and grabbed his shoulder, yanking him backwards out of sight.

After the initial shock, Freddie spun around and slowly looked up at his captor, "Nick Taylor."

The boy leaning over him in an intimidating manner laughed tunelessly, as did his two friends, who Freddie had nicknames the 'cronies' in his head a long time ago, before saying, "That's my name dork, don't wear it out."

Freddie quickly came up with many witty comebacks to this comment, most of which involved the words 'the eighties called and want their insult back," but kept his mouth firmly shut, as he knew what would happen to him if he even squeaked in their presence, and it wouldn't be pretty.

Up until a few years ago, Nick and his gang had made Freddie's life pretty rough; demanding his lunch money and knocking him into lockers as they walked past, sending his carefully crafted notes flying all over the corridor never to be seen again, once being trampled on by tens of hundreds of students. It wasn't just him; of course, they teased and made fun of any person they deemed 'nerdy' enough, which was in fact a large enough group of boys (even Nick didn't shove around girls) for them to start their very own club - The Nick Taylor Sucks Association (and we hate his guts) or NTSA for short.

Then, when Freddie became friends with Carly and Sam and they started iCarly, which propelled them into the realms of internet celebrities, well Carly and Sam more so than Freddie, but he was still pretty famous by association, Nick decided to leave him, and the NTSA, alone, much to their surprise and sheer delight. In fact, Freddie had basically forgotten their existence until this today, when everything had come flooding back into his mind in a flash. What could they possibly want after all these years? And why did if have to be before the Chemistry class he had been looking forward to all week; covalent bonding?

"What do you guys want," Freddie sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets dejectedly.

"Well, nerd," Nick began, circling Freddie like a lion circling its prey, "We may have let you and your little friends be for a couple of years, but now your time is up."

"What do you mean?" Freddie asked, confused by Nick's phrasing - his time was up? There was a time limit on him not being a douchebag?

"Well… uh," Jim, Crony Number 1, stuttered, scratching his head in a confused manner as he tried to explain what Nick was trying to tell Freddie, to no avail.

Use your words, Freddie thought condescendingly; a trained ape could probably accent their thoughts better than these three put together, and the ape would probably have more functioning brain cells, too.

"Shut up Jim," Nick snapped angrily, turning to his friend, "I do the talking around here." Turning back around, Nick grinned down at Freddie menacingly and stated, "We want two years worth of lunch money from you, and from all your wimpy friends. Or else."

Freddie looked at him, sputtering, "We can't afford that much money; it would be hundreds of dollars!"

"You're famous, ain't you?" Phil, the large, beefy member of the gang asked Freddie in a gruff voice, "You're probably loaded."

"We don't get paid for doing iCarly," Freddie explained slowly, hoping their tiny brains could comprehend the words that were coming out of his mouth, "It's on the internet, and anyway, it's just something we do for fun."

"Do we look like we care?" Nick asked, laughing, "Cough up the money by next week, geek, or-"

"I'm not paying you a dime, you lousy dumbass!" Freddie interrupted, spurred on by his recently released suppressed anger, a mistake he'd realised he'd made only a few seconds after committing to the deed. Oh crab. He was going to die.

"Oh, you're going to pay for that one, dweeb!" Nick roared, as he, Jim and Phil stepped closer and closer towards Freddie, rage glaring out of their eyes intensely.

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><p>Freddie prepared himself for the first blow, hoping he could get a swift kick to Nick where it hurt so he could run out of there as quickly as he could, but the punch never came. Instead, he felt a pair of warm, small hands grab his arm and pull him backwards, and as he looked up from the ground he saw his saviour, her long blonde hair blowing in the gentle breeze and strong stance showing that she meant business.<p>

"Sam?" he asked, confused, "What are you doing-"

"Oh, shut up nub," Sam quipped good naturedly at Freddie, "You can thank me later. Mama's got some work to do first."

"What do you want, little girl," Nick asked, though Freddie noticed all thereof his attackers backing slowly away from Sam, a look of fear in their eyes. It seemed her reputation preceded her.

"Aw, look, the monkey finally learned how to talk, how cute!" Sam exclaimed, her voice dripping with sarcasm as Freddie chuckled behind her, "But shouldn't you guys be back at the zoo where you belong by now?"

Nick scoffed at this comment, though his cheeks were reddening slightly, "Whatever. Hey dork, I guess you're too much of a wimp to protect yourself, so you had to get your little girlfriend to do it for you instead!"

Sam rolled her eyes and snorted, while Freddie blushed slightly, though neither of them denied what Nick had claimed.

"Little, am I?" Sam asked, rolling up her sleeves as she stepped closer and closer to Nick, "Nothing but a tiny, wimpy girl, huh? Well then I guess I can do this," she punched Phil in the stomach with her elbow before jabbing his back, causing him to buckle over in pain, "And this," she then turned to Jim, who she kicked hard behind the knees before pushing him over as if he were as light as a feather, "And this," finally turning to Nick, Sam saved the best until last; she kicked him where it hurt, punched him in the face and barrelled into him, stepping on his back once he had fallen over to keep him in place, "Without causing too much damage. So, what do you think? Am I still just a puny little girl?"

Freddie, who had watched the fight unfold in front of him before he could stop it, not that he did particularly want to stop it and seeing Nick and Co. getting their asses whooped by Sam had made his entire year, stared in awe at Sam, who seemed completely in her element during the whole incident. She was pretty amazing like that, he admitted to himself, perhaps in a less conventional way that expected, but amazing all the same.

Nick groaned beneath Sam's feet as she pressed her foot into his back, "Well," she asked expectedly, "I'm waiting."

"No," Nick spluttered, "You're not a tiny wimpy girl."

"That's better," Sam grinned at him, "Now remember, you deadbeat loser, we made a deal, so you and your little back up dancers better stick to it from now on or you'll have me to answer to, got it?"

Nick mumbled a quiet yes into the ground and with this Sam seemed satisfied and let him up from under her feet. He quickly prodded Jim and Phil, who stumbled to their feet in a dazed fashion, and giving Sam a final fearful look the trio ran into the school, limping painfully as they began to feel the full extent of Sam's attack.

Freddie, who had turned around to watch the attackers retreat with a warm feeling of pride towards his best friend growing in his chest, turned back to find Sam digging in her pocket for something. Finally, she triumphantly pulled out a slightly squashed Klondike bar, grinning happily as she tore off the wrapper and proceeded to shove the whole thing in her mouth before munching it cheerfully.

"A winner's trophy," Freddie joked as she licked her fingers clean, "You deserve nothing less. Thanks for saving my butt back there, Sam."

Sam waved his gratitude away, "No problemo, nub. Its' the least I could do."

Freddie furrowed his eyebrows, confused, "What do you mean, least you could do?"

Sam sighed and turned to face him, "You know, after the whole prank thing a few months ago."

"You're not still thinking about that, are you?" Freddie asked, shoving her gently in the shoulder and earning a pointed look from the blonde headed demon herself. "Sorry. But that happened months ago Sam."

"Yeah, and you had to suffer through a whole month of detention with Ms. Briggs because of it," Sam cut in, trying to make her point.

"Well, I did have some excellent company," Freddie grinned at her, During his month in exile, she had effortlessly managed to get after school detention every day, from little things like talking back to teachers or not handing in homework, just so she could keep Freddie company during his long hours of punishment. Even though he never asked why she had done it, mostly for fear of getting punched in the stomach, Freddie truly did appreciate her presence there, especially when they spent their final week hiding random items from Ms. Briggs, who then claimed she was going insane and had to take a month long sabbatical to 'collect her thoughts.'

At this comment, Sam looked down at her feet and smiled, remembering the fun times they had shared together in those detention bound weeks. While she would never admit it, Sam actually enjoyed the few hours she and Freddie spent together every day after school, as it was really the first occurrence of them spending some time together without Carly's presence or wanting to rip each other's throats out. Well, there were times when Sam had wanted to through Freddie out of the window for being a wuss, and Freddie had to literally hold Sam back by her hair to stop her from attacking Ms. Briggs, but it didn't stop them from having a great time in each other's company. She revelled in his undivided attention, as he did in hers, testing out the latest extension of their friendship one baby step at a time.

"I wasn't going to let you suffer the consequences of my actions without some entertainment, Benson," Sam replied, before smiling dazzlingly and pulling out her jazz hands sarcastically, "And God knows I'm damn good at entertaining, if nothing else. And anyway, now we're even, OK?"

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><p>Freddie chuckled, and nodded his head, before going to lean against one of the sheds, sighing heavily. Suddenly, he snapped his head back up, remembering a question he had to ask Sam.<p>

"What deal?"

"Huh?" Sam replied, searching through her pockets in hopes of finding more food, to no avail.

"What deal were you talking about with Nick before you let them go?" Freddie repeated, pulling out a fat cake and throwing it to her in one swift movement; she caught it with ease and raised her hands in thanks before eating it in two large chomps.

"Oh, that. It was nothing," Sam covered up quickly, before trying to change the subject, "Hey, aren't you supposed to be in Chemistry right now?"

"Stop trying to distract me Sam," Freddie warned, though his mind started racing as he realised he had missed almost half of his much loved covalent bonding lesson. He could catch up, he reasoned to himself, but this conversation couldn't wait. "What was the deal?"

Sam sighed heavily, joining him against the bike shed, before beginning her explanation, "When we first started hanging out, all those years ago, I overheard you and your dorky friends talking about how Nick and his gang were bullying you, so I had some words with him and told him to leave you guys alone."

"But why?" Freddie asked, genuinely interested in her answer, "I thought you didn't even like me back then."

"I didn't," Sam admitted, before grinning evilly, "Still don't, really." Freddie rolled his eyes at her before gesturing for her to carry on, which she complied with, "I just didn't like the way they were treating you, OK?" Sam looked at Freddie, her eyes pleading with his, asking him not to push her any further. Sam Puckett didn't open up, and she wasn't about to explain why she done this incredibly un-Sam thing for Freddie, even if it was years ago, to the nub himself.

Freddie pondered this response for a moment, before smiling slowly, and nodding, "OK." He didn't want to push her, and had gotten a far better answer than he had expected, so decided to leave his question unanswered for the time being, while he was still alive and breathing.

Sam let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding in, glad and somewhat confused at how she had managed to communicate her feelings to Freddie with a singular look. What Sam didn't want to tell Freddie was that even back then, when they still supposedly hated each other, she still didn't want anyone to hurt him. Well, anyone else but her; nobody hurt mama's nub but her.

"How'd you find me anyway?" Freddie asked, as he picked up his bag to head to his locker; as they had missed most of third period already he saw no point in turning up now, and decided to just get his books for English and head straight there.

"This area is where I hide from Ms Briggs during study hall after I've run out a gotten a kebab from Greasy Al down the road," Sam explained as they headed towards the 'building of hell,' as she liked to call it,

"So that's where you go! I always wondered..." Freddie mused as they walked through the doors, holding it open for Sam as she stepped through,

"Well, now you know, nub," Sam replied, before narrowing her eyes slightly "But don't you dare tell a soul, if word gets out about my whereabouts-"

"I won't tell anyone, I promise," Freddie raised one hand and crossed his heart with the other, a serious look on his face. Sam smiled in return, "Good."

They heard the bell ring loudly as the reached their lockers, signalling the end of third period and the beginning of fourth, and Freddie hurriedly stuffed his books into it's designated spot and grabbed his copy of John Green's "Looking for Alaska," the book they were studying, as Sam glanced around the hallway lazily, not bothering to search through her crab-filled locker for a book that was almost definitely not in there.

"Hey Freddie," a high pitched voice called out across the corridor, causing Freddie to look up in surprise and Sam to stare in disbelief, her eyes narrowing suspiciously, "How are you?"

"Hey Tiffany," Freddie replied, his voice breaking slightly as he greeted the bleach blonde girl who had just waved at him, "I'm good thanks, how about you?"

Tiffany grinned back at him, "Well, I've got Ms Briggs next, so not too great,"

"I feel for you," Freddie replied smoothly, leaning against the locker casually before promptly dropping his books on the floor, "Well, good luck!"

"Thanks, I'll see you around," Tiffany added, her friends giggling behind her, subtlety was not their forte, before they all turned around and headed past Sam in a huddle of whispers and darting looks.

"What did that Barbie want?" Sam asked, trying to keep her voice level and indifferent as her heart beat slightly faster than usual; why should she care who the nub spoke to in the hallway?

"No idea," Freddie admitted, slamming his locker shut as he gazed off at Tiffany's retreating figure, "She's never even acknowledged my presence before today."

Sam nodded slowly, and the pair began walking towards English class, with Freddie talking animatedly about some new editing software that Sam really didn't care about. Before they turned the corner, however, Sam took one last look at Tiffany and her gang, her eyebrows furrowing in a confused manner. She suddenly felt oddly protective over Freddie and what could happen between him and the girl who had shown a sudden interest in him, probably because of what had just happened with Nick, she convinced herself quickly.

Freddie wasn't exactly Jackson Colt, she thought to herself as she grasped for a reason behind her current emotional confusion, he needed to be protected from the likes of Nick and his motley crew by her, Sam Puckett, kick puncher extraordinaire and at the sight of Tiffany in her tight white tank top and mini skirt Sam felt her stomach drop. Tiffany was exactly the kind of girl that Freddie needed to be protected from, the calculating, devious type who would do anything to get their claws into a 'famous' tech producer like Freddie. He'd probably be blinded by Tiffany's charming smile and interest in his hobbies, both of which were faker than her self administrated tan, to realise what she was doing, and Sam knew it was up to her to keep Freddie from being hurt.

Yes, she'd have to keep an eye on Tiffany, for Freddie's sake of course. Glancing at the nub beside her, who was still talking about the software, mostly to himself, Sam smiled and looked down at the floor as another thought entered her mind; one which she tried her very best to ignore. Though she'd never admit it, defending Freddie from girls in the realm of Tiffany was for her own sake as well. Because nobody hurt mama's nub but her.

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><p><strong>AN** - Sorry it's kind of short, but I had a bit of writer's block and this was the best I could come up with. Favourite parts / lines? Or any requests for the following chapters; I know I need to fit in more Spencer somehow! Next chapter up by the following Thursday, but the final draft of my coursework is due by next Friday so getting them both done in time will be interesting... :P I will do it though, for all you wonderful faithful readers, AND FOR SPARTA!

Also, any John Green fans. No? OK then... DFTBA!

Hope you all have a fantastic week, stay awesome!

Please Review, Click the Blue!

~ Mim


	8. Chapter 7: Gifts and Guacamole

****Summary **- **When Freddie is given an essay to write entitled "What is Love?" how will he react when he reads his work aloud to his English class and finally realises how he feels for a certain blonde headed demon?

**Disclaimer - **What do you mean I don't own iCarly? LIES! *whispers from a person off stage* Oh. So apparently I don't own iCarly. Yeah, it was a surprise for me too.

**A/N - **Update day, my favourite day of the week! Sweets galore and Christmas presents for my reviewers, KittiesOnTheDarkSide, purplehAM138, DannySamLover20, irishfan62, Geekquality, President ORB, ekathdnn, seddieisepic73 and pinkworlds, I LOVE YOU GUYS! *showers with candy canes*

Previously on 10 Things iHate About You (ooh it's like a TV show!):

Chapter 2 - Tiffany and Freddie's date - Sophomore Year - May

Chapter 3 - Freddie and Sam fall asleep on the couch together, Carly wonders if there's something going on between them - Junior Year - November

This chapter would be a hot mess without my amazing beta and wonderful friend (seddieisepic73) who is awesome sauce and sends me weekly mini essays helping me to improve my work, so thanks my lovely!

READ THE END NOTE FOR AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE! Otherwise, enjoy!

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><p><em>They know you better then you know yourself, an aged cliché, I know, but it's true, and they never fail to surprise you with each dawning day.<em>

**Junior Year - February (17 years old)**

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><p>"Isn't this great?" Carly yelled over the blaring music to Freddie as she danced to the beat, a freshly opened Pepi Cola in one hand and a party blower in the other.<p>

Freddie winced as someone he hardly recognised reached over to the sound system and cranked the music up even louder, causing a cheer from the crowd of teenagers attending the party in the Shay's apartment and an inner-groan from the boy whose birthday was being celebrated.

"Great," he replied, shouting over the heavy, repetitive pounding of the song, "Thanks for doing this Carly, it was a really great surprise,"

"Of course," she grinned at him, "When you said you weren't going to have a party this year, I thought you had gone insane, everyone needs a party for their 17th birthday, the big one-seven!"

Freddie laughed at this comment, "What's so great about being seventeen, Carls? I still can't vote or drink, or leave home without my thermal underwear," his voice lowered at the last phrase, hoping the masses of people around him hadn't heard what he had said.

Carly chuckled, before pondering what his comments, "OK, so being seventeen isn't that big of a deal, but it's your birthday and I wasn't going to let it pass by without so much as a celebration!"

Freddie smiled, looking around at the celebration being held in his honour, even though he was pretty sure most of the people here didn't even know his last name. Carly had really outdone herself with the organisation of this birthday bash, inviting basically their entire year, as well as some students from the year above, and decorating the living room with colourful streamers and balloons. Now that the festivities had begun, however, the lights had been turned down low and the sofa had been moved to create a mini dance floor in the middle of the apartment, with a constant flow of people coming and going as they pleased. It was the kind of party Carly loved, with everyone she knew mingling, dancing and having a great time. Freddie, on the other hand, had a slightly different view.

He hated it. The low lighting made it hard for him to navigate around the masses of people; the loud music was giving him a headache and not knowing who anyone was at his own party made him feel slightly obsolete on a day that should have been about, well, him. Carly had done an outstanding job, and he was immensely grateful for all the hard work she had put in to make her vision a reality, but she hadn't really thought about whom she was throwing the party for during her manic frenzy of plans and colour charts. Gazing over to the kitchen area, Freddie sighed; the only really good thing about this party was-

"Hey, nub," a bony elbow nudged Freddie as he grinned at the girl he had been looking for in the crowd.

"S'up, Puckett,"

Sam was too engrossed in the large plate of spaghetti tacos in her hands to speak to Freddie properly, but after a while she looked up at him, her mouth full and eyes sparkling with sheer joy, "The food is incredible, did Carly really make this guacamole by herself?"

The food, Freddie thought to himself, mentally shaking his head as his heart leapt at the sound of her voice, yeah, that was it, the only good thing at the party; not the small blonde who had just wiped clean an entire plate of food and was searching the crowd for more.

"Spencer helped I think," Freddie replied, still smiling, "Though having him in the kitchen with so many people in the apartment is a serious fire hazard."

"Yeah, tell me about it; I've had to put the fire department on speed dial because of him," Sam chuckled "But don't worry, he left a while ago to go canoe shopping with Socko's cousin,"

"Canoe shopping?" Freddie questioned, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

"Spencer," Sam repeated, elongating the name of their best friend's older brother, and Freddie shrugged, agreeing that when it came to Spencer pretty much anything was possible.

"Well, that's cool, what's Socko's cousin's name?"

"You'll never guess," Sam's impish face lit up as she challenged Freddie,

"Try me," Freddie crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows, readying himself for Sam's revelation.

"River."

"No. Way." Freddie gaped at her before bursting into a bout of hysterical laughter.

"I swear to God!" Sam laughed, before shoving Freddie in the shoulder for his laughing at her, "Bet you five dollars it's true."

"You're on; I can spot a lie when I see one, Puckett, I'm not still that naïve little boy you met all those years ago," Freddie stated seriously, one eyebrow cocked mockingly.

No, he wasn't the same boy as the one she had first met, Sam mused as they agreed the terms of the bet and started playing a game called 'Guess the name of the jockey." He had grown up a lot since then, had become more mature and accustomed to her less than traditional sense of humour and knowing when she was messing with him, but the change didn't stop there. Even in the dim lighting Sam could make out Freddie's defined muscles, apparently all those trips to the gym had paid off, his biceps stretching against his shirt in an oddly hypnotising way. She gazed up at his hair, specially styled for the occasion; she preferred it more mussed up so she could ruffle it condescendingly, before travelling down his face, his chocolate brown eyes; that crooked smile…

Snap out of it Puckett, she shook her head and looked away, trying to get rid of the smile that was seemingly glued to her face whenever she was around him, what's wrong with you. You don't think about the way Freddie's hair looks, or how his eyes shine when he smiles at you; it was probably the guacamole messing with her system. Yeah, it was definitely the guacamole. Damn Spencer, she thought, trying to distract herself, couldn't even mash fruit right. She was just lucky he hadn't burnt it to a charred mess like most of his meals. Even though she tried to blame Spencer and his delicious guacamole for her venture into teenage-girl-land, she knew it wasn't his fault. This wasn't the first time she had caught herself staring at the nub, and she feared it wouldn't be the last.

* * *

><p>"So, you having fun?" Sam asked sarcastically, pushing down her conflicting emotions as she tried to reinitiate their conversation, not that she even needed to ask him. Sam could tell by his slightly glazed over expression that Freddie wasn't particularly interested in how the shindig was playing out.<p>

"Well," Freddie paused, thinking about his answer, before smiling slightly and looking at Sam, "Things started getting a whole lot better when you arrived."

Sam felt strangely happy by this comment, but hid her smile behind a veil of her long, curly hair,

"You know," Freddie added after some thought, "It's nice to see a familiar face amongst the sea of strangers."

"They go to our school, Fredimamma, they're not strangers."

"How many of the people in this room have you ever had a conversation with, Sam? Like a real conversation, not just the usual 'hey,' 'what's up,' 'not much,' 'cool, see ya,'"

Sam paused, contemplating his question as she mentally added up the people she talked to on a regular basis, "Six, maybe seven if you count me telling Tiffany she could shove her Gucci purse up her-"

"Sam!"

"What, you're seventeen now, I can up the language and profanities to the next level, surely." They both laughed. Over the course of their conversation, they had moved over to a quieter corner so as to audibly understand each other.

"I don't know," Freddie rubbed the nape of his neck anxiously as they returned to their previous topic of conversation, "I think Carly is awesome for doing this, but it's just-"

"Not you," Sam finished his sentence for him softly, gazing up into his eyes briefly before blinking suddenly, as if remembering herself, and looking away.

"Yeah," Freddie agreed, staring at Sam in surprise before returning his gaze to the floor, "Not me."

Sam nodded slowly at Freddie's response in a surprisingly understanding way. She knew the sort of party he would have preferred; a quieter get together with his friends, maybe pizza and a movie, something where they could actually talk to each other without having to yell over the pounding music. Where he knew all the party goers and there were presents and cake and many renditions of the song 'Happy Birthday' sung to him in wavering yet joyous voices. She could see why he felt so uncomfortable in their current setting; for a guy that was pretty much an internet sensation, Freddie could still be pretty awkward around new people, with the influence of his crazy friends often ensuring he made a random, pretty strange, altogether rather lasting first impression. Then again, he could have mingled with the crowd, attempting to form new alliances with people who wouldn't give him the time of day usually, but instead he was here hanging out with a girl who most people thought were certifiably insane. (A title Sam was very proud of, thank you very much.) But why?

Sam looked up at Freddie, who turned his gaze to meet hers and gave her one of his crooked half smiles as he nudged her side, as they initiated their latest game - "How many times Gibby gets a girl's number while shirtless," and the warm feeling in the pit of her stomach told her the reason; because they were friends; best friends at that, and despite Freddie's better judgement Sam felt he actually genuinely enjoyed the time they spent together, as did she.

So why hadn't she helped Carly with the party planning for their best friend, with the music ideas and input about coloured streamers? Was it because she was lazy? Or because she was afraid she would mess everything up if she helped, in true Puckett fashion. No, it was better that Freddie had a well organised, albeit kind of lousy for him, party than one created by the mind of a crazy person.

Suddenly, a thought bubbled into Sam's mind, one which quickly grew as she contemplated her abilities - could she pull it off? Well, there was only one way to find out.

"Hey, are you free tomorrow?" Sam asked Freddie nonchalantly, though her heart was beating at a strangely fast rate.

"Yeah, why, wanna catch a movie?"

"Not quite, I just had an idea; can you meet me here at five?

"Sure," Freddie replied warily, narrowing his eyes slightly at Sam's shifty eyes and secretive plans, "What are we going to do? Should I be afraid?"

"No. Well, maybe, but only if you're late; mama doesn't like to be kept waiting."

Sam's serious face wobbled slightly, and soon both of them were laughing at her comment, whilst Freddie promised to be punctual, before questioning Sam about what their plans were for the next day, all of which she either ignored or answered in a very cryptic manner. During this grilling session, Sam drifted off slightly and pondered going to go get some more guacamole; it may have temporarily messed up her head, but she was pretty sure it had also sparked her ingenious plan. She'd have to thank Spencer and his magical guacamole making skills later.

"Hey guys!" a loud, familiar voice came from the recently opened elevator doors and bringing Sam out of her daydream about green fruit mush, and delicious mush at that, "I bought a canoe! River said it was the best one in the whole store, and it comes with light up paddles!" Spencer walked into the apartment, struggling as he attempted to drag a large wooden boat with him whilst staring at it lovingly, "Isn't it beautiful?"

As Carly questioned Spencer about a) where they were going to keep a four foot canoe in their apartment and b) when he was even going to use a canoe, Sam gave Freddie a pointed and triumphant look, before bursting into laughter at his confused and then defeated face,

"It's like Melanie all over again," he mumbled as he dug into his pocket for a five dollar bill. Sam smiled as she took the money off him gleefully; mama did play to win after all.

* * *

><p>"Where are you taking me, Sam, and why do I have to be blindfolded?" Freddie's hand was gripped tightly in Sam's as they walked up the final steps to their destination, Sam grinning at Freddie's worried face.<p>

"Oh, hush your yapping, Benson, it's a surprise, and anyway we're almost there."

"Took us long enough," Freddie grumbled, "I mean, we walked up so many stairs we've probably reached the-" Freddie froze, before his face lit up with glee as he realised the only plausible explanation for their whereabouts. "We're going to he roof, aren't we? That's got to be it!"

Suddenly, his joyful expression was replaced by a much more frightened one, "Why are we going to the roof, Sam? You're not going to push me off, are you? If it's about that thing with your Pear phone I can totally explain, you see, it just jumped off the table and-"

"Relax, nub, it's nothing like that. It's a nice surprise." Freddie's stance relaxed slightly, though Sam chuckled as his grip on her hand tightened ever so slightly, "And anyway, I already charged my new phone to your account; Carly never could keep a secret, Freddicini." Freddie sighed; glad that Sam wasn't mad at him for his small yet costly accident, but at the same time wondered what extravagant event she had planned for their evening together.

As they approached the door, Sam's heart began to beat faster; what if it wasn't as good as she'd planned it to be? What if everything went wrong and she lived up to her expectations as a failure? Taking a deep breath, she placed one hand on the bar that opened the door, the other was still holding Freddie's shaking hand, "You ready?"

"As I have no idea what awaits me, no, not really, but let's do this."

Sam pushed open the heavy door, and after pulling off Freddie's blindfold yelled, "SURPRISE!" along with the group about twenty teenagers and Spencer who had been anxiously awaiting their arrival for the past twenty minutes.

Freddie stared in shock at what he saw around him; white fairy lights hung from various beams around the rooftop, forming a circle around a small area in which there was a long food table, brightly coloured chairs and what he supposed could be considered a 'dance floor.' He grinned at the small group of friends that were gathered around him; from an ecstatic Carly, shirtless Gibby and a canoe-paddle yielding Spencer, as well as most of the people from his AV club and Train Engineer Club. But that wasn't all; each of his friends were dressed up as characters from his favourite movie series of all time, Galaxy Wars, and there were large cardboard cut-outs of all the characters placed randomly around the rooftop floor.

As his friend's continued to clap and cheer in honour of the birthday boy's appearance, Freddie turned to look at a hopeful Sam, who was praying to the fat shake Gods that he liked what she had done.

"You did this for me?" he asked in awe, not believing that Sam Puckett had actually organised him a birthday party, and a Galaxy Wars themed one at that.

Sam shrugged, though Freddie could spot her slightly reddening cheeks signalling her pride in pulling together such festivity in less than 24 hours., "Well, after last night's little shindig I asked Carly if she really thought you'd enjoyed her party, and she admitted that it probably wasn't the greatest party ever for you, so I called a couple of your nerd friend's up, bought some cut-outs and stole, I mean, borrowed some furniture from Lewbert's store and hey presto - one party fit for a nub on his seventeenth birthday."

Freddie gazed up at Sam, his eyes filled with both bewilderment and sheer gratitude, and though Sam wanted to look away she couldn't help but get lost in his eyes.

"Thanks, Sam," Freddie murmured, his signature crooked smile making an appearance, "This is by far the nicest thing you've ever done for me."

Sam tried not to read too much into the look Freddie was giving her, but found herself doing it anyway. Was there something more behind that grateful smile and warm hand squeeze? No, it couldn't be, he still loved Carly, right? And anyway, even if there was it wasn't like she reciprocated those feelings in anyway; Sam Puckett falling for Freddie Benson? That would be the day, maybe when Spencer didn't set something on fire or she finally filled her bottomless pit of a stomach.

Retreating back, Sam let go of Freddie's hand, albeit reluctantly, to punch him in the shoulder, "Don't worry about it, Fredinstein, now run along and have fun," she pushed him forwards mockingly, hoping to distance herself from him as much as possible.

Freddie grinned at her, and gave her a mock salute before walking up to Carly and his friends and greeting them warmly, thanking them for attending his impromptu party. Sam smiled at her friends as Carly hugged Freddie quickly before running and grabbing him a long maroon cloak so he could join in on the dressing up festivities, and Gibby grabbed him into a manly bear hug, wishing him a very happy birthday before being pushed out of the way by Spencer, who ruffled his hair and punched him on the shoulder, his small sniffles about how grown up he looked transforming into full blown out sobbing. Patting Spencer comfortingly on the shoulder, Freddie reassured him that he wasn't planning on growing up any time soon, a comment which Spencer smiled at, wiping away the last of his short outburst of tears and leaving to go and check on the food.

Suddenly, Freddie spotted something on the table in front of him and picked it up, spinning around to look at Sam as an evil smirk lit up his face. Sam squinted to get a closer look at what he was holding, only to laugh and shake her head, making her wishes clear.

"No way in hell am I wearing those, Benson."

"Come on Princess Puckett, you'll look great with hair buns," Freddie laughed at her expression, before running up to greet some of his AV club friend who had been unable to make it the night before. Teasing Sam about the headpiece was one thing, but actually getting her to wear it without getting his arm broken would be a completely different task altogether. Then again, her famous Puckett punch had been softening recently, not to mention the fact that she had actually planned a party for him instead of sabotaging it and with all his time in the gym he was pretty sure he could take her, or at least coax it on with some bacon. Looking back at Sam, who rolled her eyes at him and headed over to the food table to say hi to Carly and Spencer, Freddie smiled once again. He'd get those hair buns onto his Princess eventually; the night was still young after all, and if Sam's actions that night had taught him anything it was that she was always full of surprises.

* * *

><p>A few hours later, the party was still pumping as the fairy lights shone brightly against the midnight sky. Some of Freddie's friends were shuffling around the dance floor to some 90's pop ballad, though most of them were just cheering on Gibby, who was having a 'dance off' with his duck, while others were chatting about how they could combine the AV and Train club to form one massive community for nerds everywhere. Carly was getting a glass of punch from Spencer, who was chief of the food table and grabbed a sandwich to give to Freddie, before turning around and spotting an apprehensive Sam approaching where he was sitting on the edge of the roof. Carly's eyes widened, and she quickly turned away to hand the sandwich to a boy dressed up as Nug-Nug instead, looking back over her shoulder at Sam with a small smile on her face before walking towards the dance floor.<p>

Perched on the hard brick wall, Freddie was staring out across the Seattle skyline in a contemplative manner, before being jolted out of his thoughts by Sam's fist on his arm. He glances up at her and smiles, before noticing the object in her hands and giving her a surprised and confused look.

"What?" she asked, sitting down next to him, "You didn't think I'd turn up to your party without a present, did you nub?"

"Well you've never gotten me one before," Freddie laughed, though his heart swelled at the idea of Sam actually spending some of her hard-wagered honey glazed ham money on him for his birthday.

Sam shrugged, willing the blood rushing to her face to go back to wherever it belonged, because it sure as hell wasn't helping the situation, "Whatever Benson, just open it."

But Freddie wasn't going to let her off that easily, "Organising this party was enough of a gift, Sam, really, I'm so-"

"Just open the damn thing, would ya?" Sam interrupted him, meeting his eyes for split second before looking down at her hastily wrapped present which she thrust into his hands.

Admitting defeat, Freddie accepted the gift, smiling at the small hands that were waving the wrapped up gift in front of him. "OK. Thank you."

"You don't know what it is, yet?" Sam smirked, causing Freddie's eyes to widen as his eyes darted to the unidentified object in his hands, "Don't worry," Sam added casually, "It doesn't bite. Much."

Noticing her teasing tone, Freddie rolled his eyes in her general direction before picking up the envelope and pulling out the card inside. "Dear Freddie," he read Sam's world out loud, a smile on his face, "Happy Birthday. I hate you. Hate Sam." He looked at the blonde headed demon besides him, who shrugged and simply said, "Not that great with the words, Benson."

"Well it's nice to know you care, Puckett," Freddie joked, placing the card gently beside him as he reached for the present, albeit it quite apprehensively. Peeling back the paper as though fearing whatever was inside it, Freddie was greeted by the familiar cover of his favourite Galaxy Wars film. He looked up at Sam, smiling at her in thanks, though he wondered why she had bothered to buy him a DVD she knew he already owned, and had watched close to a thousand times.

Laughing, Sam murmured, "Turn it over," her eyes darting from the present to his face as she tried to speculate his reaction.

Turning over the DVD, Freddie spotted a message written in black pen over the cover, "Fredward. Live a long and prosperous life. Use the Force to guide you. Benedict Jackson."

Freddie stared down at the precious item in his hands, stuttering at Sam, "How… what…"

"How did I get the lead actor of Galaxy Wars to sign your DVD?" Sam asked, smiling at his response; why did his ears look so cute when they had turned red? "I have my connections."

"Uncle Carmie?" Freddie asked, managing to splutter out a few words.

"Oh no, he's still… other wise occupied. Cousin Chaz," Sam clarified, grinning at Freddie before noticing his intense gaze and staring down at her shoes, smiling.

"Ah, I see," Freddie replied, before placing the DVD on top of his card and turning to throw his arms around Sam tightly. She stiffened automatically due to the surprise hug attack, but soon relaxed into it, wrapping her arms around him and laughing again as he pulled away and she spotted the ecstatic look on his face.

"OK, you are officially my favourite person right now," Freddie babbled, "If you need anything, ever, just say the word and I will do it; need your shoes shining? Bacon supplies? Seriously, Sam..."

"Oh, shut up, Benson," Sam shoved Freddie playfully, "You know mama doesn't do that mushy chiz. Its cool. And anyway, this whole being nice to you thing is a strictly one time thing, because it's your birthday; I don't want people thinking I'm getting soft on you."

Freddie looked at her, his eyes still gleaming with excitement, but he became slightly more sombre at the warning look I her eyes, "OK. But as it's my birthday, could you do one more tiny little thing,"

"I'm not wearing the headpiece," Sam said in a deadpan voice, guessing his request in an instant.

"Oh come on, Sam, it will be fun!" Freddie smile at her, though his face dropped as her signature smirk that was often accompanied by an insane plan.

"OK," she agreed, turning to Freddie's suspicious face, "But only on one condition."

He sighed, "I'm going to regret this, aren't I?"

Sam smiled, her eyes shining, "Oh yeah. You are most definitely going to regret this."

* * *

><p>"Freddie, Freddie," one side of the circle chanted, as the birthday boy pretended to do the moon walk while simultaneously doing the hand jive, only to be cut off by Gibby, whose body roll and well practised dance moves pushed him to the side.<p>

"Gibby," Sam screamed, adjusting her hair buns as she stuck out her tongue out at Freddie, who was looking at her with false shock, "Come on Gib, you can beat him!"

The terms of the agreement were simple; after Freddie had placed the hair buns onto Sam's head, she herded him towards the dance floor and made him challenge Gibby to a dance off, creating an intense competition with only one rule; last dancer standing wins. Carly was the ultimate judge, keeping a keen eye on Gibby and Freddie to ensure they didn't lean against anyone or fall over, though she too was laughing at Freddie's hilariously bad dancing that even made Spencer's moves look good to be a fair adjudicator.

Sam laughed again at Freddie's lame attempt of the robot, causing Freddie to smile back at her as an idea popped into his mind. Suddenly, Freddie yelled "Random Dancing!" and everyone rushed into the middle to join in with the insanity. Pushed up against the crowd of people, Sam bumped into someone and turned around to find herself staring into a pair of familiar brown eyes that were shining with exhilaration. Pushing down the feeling inside her Sam laughed and started her crazy dancing, flailing her arms around her as Freddie re-initiated his robot.

For now she'd try to distract herself from the electricity she felt every time their hands touched or the drop in her stomach every time her eyes met his chocolate brown ones, but deep down she knew she couldn't ignore those feelings forever. No matter how hard she pushed them down beneath a mountain of spaghetti tacos and guacamole.

Suddenly, Freddie grabbed her small hands in his own much larger ones, and dragged her towards him so he could say something to her. "I never got a chance to tell you," he whispered into her ears softly, blocking them off from the chaos around them, "But I hate you too, Sam." Sam smiled and pulled back so she could look up into Freddie's dark brown eyes, hoping he didn't spot whatever she was burying deep within her soul before she had a chance to determine what it was herself, "Right back at ya, Benson. Right back at ya. "

* * *

><p><strong>AN** - And, scene. Did you guys like it? Let me know any favourite parts / lines / not-so-subtle references to popular culture!

**IMPORTANT ****NOTE** - I'm afraid I'm going to have to take a hiatus from writing and updating this fic for about a month - PLEASE DON'T HATE ME! It's just that with the holidays coming up, which are crazy as you all know, and the fact that I have two really important exams in January which I have yet to study for I honestly don't have the time to write this fic without it being a pile of chiz. I'm really really sorry, but I hope you guys understand, and come January 12th (my last exam - WHOO!) the writing shall resume.

I may try and update if I have any spare time (which will be incredibly unlikely!), because I truly love writing this fic and receiving all your feedback; I'm going to miss it all and you all a lot!

Stay amazing, hope you all have wonderful Christmas', New Year's and every, if any, other holiday you may be celebrating, my love to you all, lovely readers. I'LL MISS YOU!

~ Mim xx


	9. Chapter 8: Fire escapes and Flasbacks

**RE-UPLOADED - ONLY MINOR GRAMMATICAL CHANGES, NO CHANGE IN PLOT LINE, SO NO NEED TO RE-READ. :-)**

**Summary **- When Freddie is given an essay to write entitled "What is Love?" how will he react when he reads his work aloud to his English class and finally realises how he feels for a certain blonde headed demon?

**Disclaimer - **I do not own iCarly, I mean, does it even need saying? I also borrowed some actual speech from the episode iSaved Your Life, mainly for the Bolivian Bacon explanation, which I completely do not own. Only the story plot line and the character Uncle Frank are mine, which, let's face it, is not much to brag about… :P

**A / N - **I'm back! *cheers from live studio audience* Hi everyone, how are you all! So I go on hiatus for a little over a month and we get THREE new iCarly's AND I reached 100 reviews? WHAT? THANK YOU SO MUCH! Maybe I should go on hiatus more often :P Just kidding... I'm so happy to be back writing again now that my exams are finally over, so let's get to it!

A huge massive thank you to J. W. Flannigan, akg.517, irishfan62, ghostlike, Ehgrbgejjkgfbjnekbfdgjjnk, ekathdnn, little miss pink ink, pinkworlds, Princess of the BookWorms, DorkyBlonde, Keirah, Flutter360, BetterThanGold, Sharksbean, DannySamLover20, purplehAM138, KittiesOnTheDarkSide and GeekQuality for the lovely reviews, as well as to the many people who wished me good luck in my exams, YOU GUYS RAWK!

I'm still getting back into the swing of things, so sorry if this chapter is a bit, well, bad or OOC, but I hope you guys like it!

Previously on 10 Things iHate About You:

Chapter 3 - Freddie mentions he and Carly dated in June of Sophomore Year, he and Sam fall asleep on the couch together and Carly wonders if there's something going on between them - Junior Year, November

And nothing else is really relevant… :P CONTINUITY, whoo, go me…

ENJOY!

* * *

><p><em><em>They care about you and your well being, giving you strength in times of need, and though they don't always show it, you know how they truly feel deep down.<em>_

**Junior Year - June (17 years old)**

* * *

><p>"Fredinstein," the door to the Benson's apartment slammed shut behind Sam as she walked into the apartment, greeting the teenage boy who was sitting on the sofa while scribbling down some notes on a pad of paper.<p>

"Princess Puckett," he replied, closing the book and tucking it into his pocket as he looked up and smiled at Sam's approaching form.

"You've got to come up with a new nickname for me, Freddifer," Sam sighed, shaking her head at Freddie mockingly as she fell into the seat next to him. She leant against the sofa until she was comfortable before placing her legs over Freddie's lap automatically, "I mean, it was kind of funny the first couple times you used it, but now it's just getting old."

Freddie laughed, turning to face the smiling girl next to him, "OK Sam, I'll work on that before our next impromptu iCarly rehearsal. And on that note, do you have any idea why Carly called us over?"

"Not really," Sam shrugged, before reaching over to steal some of Freddie's chips from an open bag on the coffee table, "She just said we were no way near ready for next week's episode, and had to rehearse for our 'Walk down Memory Lane,' segment, with whatever torturous events that may entail."

"Walk down Memory Lane?" Freddie smirked at Sam, "I never pegged you as the cheesy reminiscent type, Sam."

"Well I sure as hell didn't pick it," Sam replied defensively, her cheeks puffed up from high levels of chip inhalation, "It was Carly's idea!"

"Yeah, I guessed as much," Freddie laughed, causing Sam to shove him into the arm rest of the sofa before she spun her legs round and bounced up to her feet, grabbing the bag of chips off the table along the way.

"Well come on then, nub, we're gonna be late," Sam said as she retreated backwards towards the front door.

"Why are you in such a hurry, Puckett?" Freddie questioned, leaning against the sofa leisurely as if to anger Sam's withdrawing form, "Can you smell fried chicken coming from Carly's apartment or something?"

"No," Sam answered, even though she could have sworn she could detect that heavenly chicken aroma in the air and wondered how on earth Freddie knew, "It's just that if we're late to another rehearsal I think Carly will actually implode."

"We're not always late," Freddie said defensively, causing Sam's eyebrows to shoot upwards condescendingly.

"Oh really," Sam leant against the door and started counting on her fingers, "Last week, we got into an argument about who was the superior fighter; pirates or ninjas, and were twenty minutes late, the week before that we went to the movie theatre to watch that stupid documentary you wanted to see and we were forty five minutes late because it overran, the week before that-"

"Yeah, I get it," Freddie held up his hands, admitting defeat, and got up to walk over to Sam, "I guess we are getting kind of sloppy with our punctuality, but I don't think Carly's ever been mad at us."

* * *

><p>Sam ignored Freddie's last comment, but as he ran to his room to grab a movie he had to return to their brunette best friend all she could think about Carly's actual reaction towards their frequent tardiness. She didn't get mad at them, quite the contrary actually, as she instead opted for an omniscient smile and asked if they'd had a fun outing whenever they showed up to rehearsal together, usually laughing and almost always late. Then, later on when Freddie wasn't around, Carly would casually ask Sam about what the activity of the night had been, waiting for the opportune moment to turn the conversation over to the serious side, as she took her unruly friend by the hand and asked her if she had any feelings for Freddie that extended the comfortable friendship the pair of them had perfected.<p>

Sam would always respond in the same way, by rolling her eyes and telling Carly there was nothing going on, a statement that neither of them truly believed but would go on to accept until the next week, when the whole process would start again. It was for this reason that Sam didn't want to be late, so she could avoid her best friend's delve into feelings that she herself was still unsure of. She loved Carly like a sister, but Sam knew her friend's incessant need to play cupid would end in tears, especially if it involved a blonde delinquent and a technical nub. They just didn't fit the 'perfect couple' mould, and Sam wasn't even sure if that was a mould she wanted to discuss with Freddie, let alone share.

"And look at that," Sam sighed as Freddie re-entered the living room, staring at her empty wrist and pretending to check the time whilst simultaneously ignoring the fluttery feeling in her stomach whenever she caught her favourite nub's gaze, "Now we're exactly two minutes late for the rehearsal. I'm starting to think you're a bad influence on me, Fredward."

"Hey," Freddie exclaimed, attempting to defend himself, "More often than not you're the reason we're late to so many of these things!"

"Me?" Sam's hand went over her heart as she feigned a fake gasp, "How dare you suggest such a thing Mr. Benson! I am the epitome of promptness, the embodiment of all things timely, I mean, punctual is practically my middle name."

"Yeah, and 'never' is your first," Freddie joked, earning him another punch on the shoulder as they both laughed at his dig at Sam's tardiness.

"Well it's true!" Freddie tried to reason with Sam, who was trying hard to maintain her angry face and instead ended up staring intently at Freddie's crooked smile, "I mean, a year ago I was always the first one at the studio and the last one to leave."

"And what's changed since," Sam paused to glance at Freddie's wall calendar, "June 14th of last year, pray tell?" She grinned at Freddie, expecting a clever answer about her ever growing presence in Freddie's life, but instead his smile dropped ever so slightly as he too looked over at his mother's 'Best Hoovers of the Year' calendar.

"June 14th?" Freddie's eyebrows rose slightly as his amused face transformed into a more pensive one, "Well how about that." He chuckled slightly, confusing Sam even further, "That is weirdly fitting for our little trip down memory lane."

"What choo talking 'bout, Benson?" Sam asked, crossing her arms as Freddie laughed at her Different Strokes impression.

"June 14th," Freddie leant against the wall beside him as he began to explain his sudden reminiscence, "was the date that Carly and I broke up last year, though I suppose we can hardly call it that, as our 'relationship' only lasted about three days," he placed the word relationship in air quotes with his fingers, causing Sam to smile up at him slightly.

Sam felt her stomach flutter slightly at the thought of Freddie and Carly's brief relationship as she looked up at the nub, wondering why she felt so weird talking about it with him. Sure, they'd never really talked about it before, but the trio's friendship had never been stronger, especially after Freddie diffused any feelings he had for their pretty brunette friend.

"Weirdest three days of my life," Sam laughed, trying to cover up her uncomfortable pause in the conversation.

"Yeah, tell me about it," Freddie mused, thinking back to the day he had risked his life for Carly and all his adolescent dreams had come true, or so he had at first believed.

"You think it was strange for you?" Sam asked Freddie incredulously, "Try having your two best friends start dating, after one of them had just nearly died in a taco truck accident and the other just started acting really loopy, I mean, she'd never really shown any interest in you before. The day you guys told me what was going on I thought I had gotten a one way ticket on the Insane Train to Crazy Town."

"But that wasn't June 14th," Freddie reminded her, chuckling at her train joke, "We told you-"

"A few days before, on June 12th, right?" Sam cut in, "Yeah, I remember, I mean, how could I possibly forget…"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Flashback<strong> - June 12th, Sophomore Year (One year ago)_

"_You guys are what?" Sam exclaimed, managing to swallow the gulp of Pepi Cola in her mouth instead of producing an impressive spit take and spraying it everywhere after Carly's announcement. This was not the sort of news you told a girl who was mid-chug of a carbonated beverage._

"_Dating! Isn't that great?" Carly bobbed up and down on her toes, her excitement evident as she clutched onto Freddie's cast covered arm._

_Sam looked from Freddie to Carly in shock, before saying, "Are you sure you weren't the one who got hit by a Taco truck, Carls? Because I'm pretty sure you've got some kind of concussion right now, or else you wouldn't be saying all these loopy things,"_

"_No Sam, I'm serious," Carly replied, laughing, "And it's not because of some phantom concussion. It's real."_

"_But I thought you didn't have 'those' kinds of feeling for Freddie," Sam put down her drink and placed air quotes around the word 'those' as she tried to collect her thoughts more clearly. Carly and Freddie were actually dating? She glanced over at Freddie, raising her eyebrows slightly as if waiting for an explanation. He just smiled and shrugged one of his shoulders, unsure of what to tell her._

"_Well I guess I do have 'those' kind of feelings," Carly continued, her eyes shining brightly, "I just never really realised they were there before. When Freddie saved me from that Taco truck everything became clear to me. We're in love, Sam."_

_It was at this point in the conversation that Sam was glad her last snack had been about an hour ago, otherwise the wrenching feeling in her stomach would have turned into something far messier and a lot harder to clean up off the Shay's living room floor._

"_Are you OK with this, Sam?" Carly asked, sitting down on the sofa next to her best friend in a concerned manner, "Because you don't have to worry, nothing will change between the three of us, we'll still do iCarly and hang out together-"_

"_No, I'm not worried about that," Sam interrupted Carly, not wanting to see her doe eyed friend become upset, "It's just that…" Sam paused, trying to find the words to express how she felt, which had become a lot harder once she realised that she honestly didn't know how to react to this new chapter in their lives. She glanced over at Freddie once again, who was still standing up but was now staring at the floor with an odd amount of interest, and closed her eyes briefly before looking up at Carly once again and smiling. Sam wasn't about to crush her best friend's new found happiness with her own thoughts and feelings which were changing by the second, even though she wanted to be truthful. Carly was far too important to her for that, so for the time being she really only had one choice; lie. Well, at least she wasn't letting one of her most practised skills go to waste._

"_It's great news, Carls," Sam began again, smiling widely, "Really, I'm happy you two crazy kids finally worked it out."_

"_You really mean that Sam?" Carly asked happily._

"_Yup," Sam replied, accenting the word heavily before leaning around Carly, mainly to speak to Freddie but also to avoid any further eye contact with her best girl friend that would make her break for sure, "Make sure you look after her, Benson, OK? And if you hurt her, I will end you, despite our supposed ever blossoming friendship."_

_Freddie looked up at Sam, as if he hadn't been paying full attention to their conversation, and smiled at her, "I would expect nothing less from you, Puckett."_

_Carly squealed and grabbed Sam into a hug, before releasing her and jumping up off of the sofa, "This calls for a celebration. Lemonade, anyone?"_

_Sam pointed to her half finished can of Pepi Cola, signalling her negative response, while Freddie shook his head good naturedly. _

_Carly shrugged, smiling as she joked, "Well, more for me I suppose!" as she walked over to Freddie, placed a chaste kiss on his cheek and then proceeded to skip over to the kitchen humming. With this act of endearment, Freddie blushed slightly, rubbing his hand against the nape of his neck before sitting awkwardly beside Sam, who felt her stomach drop for the third time in a half an hour time slot._

* * *

><p>"<em>Well, I bet you're over the moon about this, Benson," Sam said in her famous deadpan tone, attempting to keep the conversation light and humorous. The time for deciding exactly how she felt about her two best friend's dating would come, but it wasn't now, especially with one half of iCarly's latest couple sitting only a few inches away from her.<em>

"_Yeah, totally," Freddie's voice cracked slightly at the last word, causing Sam's head to dip slightly as she tried to look at him properly._

"_Benson?" she asked cautiously, "You alright?"_

_Freddie's eyes darted around the room, searching for a place where he wouldn't be under the watchful gaze of a certain blonde headed demon, but he eventually gave in and looked into Sam's cerulean eyes, not wanting to hide his feelings on the matter any longer. "No. I'm really not."_

"_What?" Sam's eyes narrowed as she tried to determine what could possibly be wrong with Freddie on what was supposedly the happiest day of his life. Was he not as happy with his recently acquired relationship with Carly, or was it something completely unrelated? Sam felt something new growing inside of her, spreading around her body like wild fire; was that, hope?_

_Suddenly, Freddie grabbed Sam's arm, pulling her face closer to his so he could whisper "Meet me at the fire escape tonight at seven, I really need to talk to you."_

_Sam refrained from succumbing to her automatic defence mechanism of yanking Freddie's arm off of her and punching him in the face, instead opting for a minor struggle as she questioned his motives, "What, why-" _

"_Please Sam?" Freddie interrupted her, his plea affecting Sam much more than she would have expected. It was not his words that sealed the deal, however, but the desperate look in his eyes which caused Sam to sigh and nod, accepting his invitation._

"_Fine, whatever, Benson."_

_Freddie nodded at her and smiled, whispering a small, "Thank you," before pulling away as he heard Carly calling to him from the kitchen._

_A few seconds later, after she had fully comprehended what had just occurred between herself and Freddie, Sam looked over at the happy couple, who had now split a cookie in half and were sharing it, as her mind ran amuck with theories about what Freddie had wanted to talk to her about. Throughout the crazy thoughts running through her mind, however, only one remained constant; when had she boarded the train for Crazy Town? And more importantly, how the hell did she get off of it?_

_**End flashback**_

* * *

><p>"Any reason you remember that date so specifically?" Sam re-initiated their conversation, trying to hide her genuine interest in Freddie's answer. Her memories of those few days last June had remained vivid in her mind for a number of different reasons, but right now was not the time to be musing on the past.<p>

"Well, it's also my Uncle Frank's birthday, you know, the one who always wears an eye patch and talks about Oprah, which reminds me, I should probably call him…" Freddie muttered quickly, avoiding Sam's eyes as he grabbed his Pear phone from his pocket and set a reminder to call his Uncle Frank after the rehearsal.

Sam looked at the stammering nub before her, wondering why the conversation had taken a turn for the awkward after her question; did the dork still have feelings for Carly? No, she thought to herself, that couldn't be it, especially after their conversation on the fire escape last year. Despite her jabs and taunts, Sam had been pretty sure Freddie had managed to get over the other third of the iCarly trio for good since that moment they shared all those moons ago.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Flashback<strong> - June 12th - Sophomore Year (One year ago)_

"_I just don't know if I like her like that anymore!" Freddie began, pacing up and down the narrow fire escape while Sam sat on his deck chair listening intently, "I mean I've fantasised about Carly falling in love with me for as long as I can remember, but now that its actually happening it just doesn't feel… right." _

"_I know what you mean, nub-" Sam tried to share her thoughts with Freddie, only to be cut off mid sentence._

"_And why has she had a sudden change of heart, after all this time; why now?" Freddie's questions streamed of his mouth in a confused manner, before he turned around and smiled slightly at Sam and upon seeing her bored expression attempted a small bit of humour to lighten the mood, "I mean, I know these guns have gotten pretty big over the last few months but I don't think Carly's that superficial,"_

_Sam snorted at Freddie's comment, as he smiled knowingly back, glad to have brought Sam out of her semi-robotic facial expressions, "Don't flatter yourself, Benson." Sam began, standing up to lean against the metal railings beside Freddie, "You're just her bacon."_

"_Her what? Don't try and use one of your food analogies to explain this, Puckett," Freddie sighed, knowing he was going to have trouble following Sam's unique metaphor._

_Sam stared at Freddie condescendingly, before clearing her voice and beginning her analogy, "Remember a while ago when I dated that guy Eric Mosby - kid with the big nose?"_

_Freddie nodded, "Sure, Noseby Mosby."_

"_Uh huh. And remember how he tried to get me to be his girlfriend for like six months and I kept on saying 'Get away from me, or I'll kill you?'" _

_Freddie nodded again, wondering where Sam was going with this anecdote._

"_And then," Sam continued, "He bought me a subscription to the _Bacons of the World Club, _and boom," she smacked her hands together suddenly, making Freddie jump,_ "_I thought I was in love with the guy?"_

"_Yeah, so what does this have to do with me and Carly?" Freddie asked impatiently, feeling an odd feeling rising in his stomach at the thought of Nosy Mosby dating Sam, even though it was only for about a week due to Sam's inability to keep food for more than seven days without consuming it._

"_I was never in love with him, was I? I was just in love with the foreign bacon that he provided for me… like a beautiful greasy dream."_

* * *

><p><em>Sam gazed off into the distance with a dreamy look on her face, only snapping out of her heavenly bacon dream when Freddie waved his hand in front of her face.<em>

"_Sam, SAM! I don't understand, I didn't buy Carly any bacon, all I did was-"_

"_Save her life." Sam finished Freddie's sentence as realisation overcame his face, "And that's Carly's bacon. She's not in love with _you_; she's in love with what you did."_

_Freddie stared into Sam's eyes, which were brimming with purpose and what looked like understanding, though he couldn't be sure. He leaned against the railing more heavily as he tried to take this new bit of information into account._

"_You really think I'm just her bacon?" he asked quietly, unsure if he wanted to know the real answer. Sure, he was still pondering his feelings for Carly, but to have the girl of your adolescent dreams admit she loves only to find out it was a mere delusion would be a punch to the chest for anyone. Wouldn't it?_

"_Well what else would explain her sudden interest in you, apart from a lobotomy or clinical insanity?" Sam asked gently, nudging her elbow into his side as he smiled slightly, "You need to break it off, Benson, before one if not both of you get hurt."_

"_But it'll crush her, she still think she loves me, remember, and I don't want to hurt one of my best friend's like that Sam." Freddie argued in a low voice, trying to avoid doing a task he never thought he'd ever have to do._

"_Just let her down easy, and give each other some space for a while," Sam told him simply, "Carly's strong, stronger than most people think, and she'll get over you in time. I mean, I was going to try and explain the whole bacon thing to her but she is in way too deep. Like, Atlantic Ocean deep. So I guess this one's on you, Benson."_

"_I know that breaking up with Carly when I'm unsure of my feelings towards her and she's not exactly thinking straight is the right thing to do, but will I be kicking myself in a week's time for giving her up? I mean, I thought she was the girl of my dreams - isn't she the girl of my dreams?" Freddie babbled the last sentence, ending his long stream of speech by looking nervously into Sam's eyes._

_Sam sighed, and deepened her and Freddie's gaze before speaking very softly, the soft moonlight shadowing her face and outlining her petite figure against the Seattle skyline, "Do you get butterflies in your stomach whenever she's near?"_

"_Not anymore," Freddie admitted, more to himself than to Sam._

"_Do you find yourself staring at her absent mindedly as the sound of her voice makes you forget what you were saying or where you were going?" Sam added, leaning marginally close to Freddie as he subconsciously returned the action._

"_Not to my knowledge," Freddie's voice was also low as his eyes remained locked on Sam's._

"_Is she the first thing you think about in the morning, the last before you go to bed and pretty much everything in between?"_

_Freddie sighed deeply, causing Sam to realise their closeness and retreat, hoping he hadn't noticed what had been a more than intimate gap between them "No. Not even close."_

_Sam smiled at Freddie and punched him on the shoulder, causing him to wince in pain and look away, though her eyes remained fixated on his form, as despite the physical pain he was in he seemed more relaxed and at peace than she had seen him for days, "Then I think you've got your answer, nub."_

_**End Flashback**_

* * *

><p>"Done!" Freddie exclaimed, sticking his phone back into his pocket after creating the reminder, his voice making Sam to jump out of her thoughts of yester-year and back into present day.<p>

"Cool chiz, then let's get a move on, Benson," Sam replied moving towards the door. Freddie followed, before stopping as his mind ran back through their previous conversation and a sudden thought came over him

"You know, I never thanked you," Freddie stated, causing Sam to turn around and give him a puzzled look.

"For what," she asked, leaning against the door frame.

"For what you said to me on the fire escape last year, about how I was just Carly's 'bacon.' and telling me to end things if I didn't have feelings for her," he explained, trying to catch Sam's flickering gaze, "You gave me the courage to do it, to break up with her, we just weren't right together and neither of us could see past the 'bacon' of it all."

Sam looked up at Freddie, her eyes glinting mischievously, "Well it still took you three days to find the balls to actually do it."

"I was scared!" Freddie protested, laughing at Sam's unimpressed face as she rolled her eyes at him, "I'd never broken up with anyone before, at least, never with anyone nearly as important as Carly is to me."

"Yeah, I get it. That kid is pretty spectacular," Sam thought out loud, wondering how she managed to score not only a wonderful best girl friend but a pretty great best nub as well. OK. A best nub friend, who she had fully accepted into her life in many more ways than she could have ever imagined possible.

"But seriously, thanks Sam," Freddie said, smiling down at her.

"Don't sweat it, Benson." Sam replied, allowing herself a moment to stare back into Freddie's eyes while she ignored what felt like mild light headiness. She could see how Carly had gotten lost in the haze of Freddie love last June, even if her feelings had been inadvertently untrue; a boy saving your life could make any girl infatuated with him for a while, but even though Freddie had paid Carly unwavering attention since the 6th grade couldn't change the fact that what the pair of them wasn't real. But those eyes, Sam thought to herself as she gazed up at Freddie thoughtfully, and that crooked smile with the little dimple just above his lips, it was things like that which made Sam become aware of feelings that she was unfamiliar with; feelings that made her seriously contemplate the question that Carly has been asking her since she had caught them asleep on the couch together way back in November of last year.

Suddenly, Sam's eyes widened and she broke their strangely hypnotic connection, grabbing Freddie's arm and spinning it around so she could get a good look at his special edition Tin Tin watch, "Oh chiz. After all that talk about being on time and now we're really late."

Freddie looked mildly concerned for a moment, before he relaxed and grinned, "Don't worry, Gibby will be there to entertain Carly, and he's got enough stories about liquid soap to last all day."

"Lucky girl, our Carly," Sam chuckled as she spun around and opened the door, before Freddie jabbed her in the arm and overtook her, running into the hallway while shouting "Race you there!" behind him.

Sam smiled and shook her head, running out after him and closing the door behind her. She wondered what Carly would say when they showed up together, late again and completely out of breath from running up two flights of stairs, and if the same old question would arise once more - did she have feelings for Freddie? At this point, she mind also travelled back to the most played out memory of the day, how merely one year ago she had basically given Freddie the advice that caused him to break up with Carly, and how she was so adamant that they wouldn't be right together. It was true, of course, despite their similarities the two together were a worse couple than Jennifer and Brad, but even so why did she try so hard to prove how wrong the pair of them were for one another?

As she entered the Shay's apartment, Freddie was only a few steps ahead of her, and being determined to win this impromptu race, as always, Sam picked up the pace. Freddie looked back and grinned at her, and she stuck her tongue out at him in return before grabbing his jacket and pulling him backwards, overtaking him on the first few steps of the stairs. Still, the many thoughts ran through her mind, as she found it harder and harder to block them out in the usual way she was so familiar with. Did she finally have an answer for the question that had been plaguing her for months? And was she ready to admit that answer and all that came with it to Carly, to the nub who was currently five steps behind her but altogether far too close to her heart, and most importantly, to herself?

* * *

><p><strong>A  N - **Did ya like it? Review once for yes and twice for no :P Any favourite parts or lines? So we've only got a couple of chapters of this fic left to go *sob* but I will be regularly updating it every Thursday from now until the end, as a present for all my amazingly faithful readers and reviwers, I promise! Next week, my first attempt at writing in T-Bo, and who would want to miss that? Once again, thank you to everyone for being so patient with me, now you get to reap the rewards of being so awesome, (I hope my writing is reward-y enough!) MUCH LOVE, update will arrive in a week's time!

Please Review, Click the Blue!

~ Mim


	10. Chapter 9: Applications and Apprehension

**Summary **- When Freddie is given an essay to write entitled "What is Love?" how will he react when he reads his work aloud to his English class and finally realises how he feels for a certain blonde headed demon?

**Disclaimer** - *Running out of Nickelodeon Head Quarters* I've finally done it, iCarly is mine, ALL MINE! *evil laughter* Now I can write the characters in whatever way I deem fit- wait, these are the ownership papers for Victorious? *Rips up sheets and walks away* :P I'm kidding, Victorious is great, but iCarly shall always rule supreme!

**A/N -** Hi guys, how are we all this fine day? How amazing have the past few iCarly episodes been (I mean, even without the blatant Seddie moments... :P ) Hugs and big sloppy kisses for Dorky Blonde, Geekquality, Keirah, mortalimortality, LyshaLuvsSeddie, DannySamLover20, Evelyn, asdfghjklqwertyuiopzxcvbnm, anon.10810, akg.517 and KittiesOnTheDarkSide for the awesome sauce reviews, MY LOVE TO YOU ALL!

Evelyn - Despicable Me! You're my new favourite... :P THANK YOU! I wrote today's disclaimer with you in mind!

asdfghjklqwertyuiopzxcvbnm - Why thank you, kind fellow!

I am also re-uploading last week's chapter, just because of a few minor grammatical errors that my amazing beta (.epic.73) helped me with... speaking of which, can everyone please give a massive round of applause to my beautiful beta, who has given me so much advice on this week's chapter, THIS ONE'S FOR YOU, MY LOVE!

Previously on 10 Things iHate About You

Chapter 5 - Sam and Tony dated for a few weeks before she broke up with him, because the only reason he was with her was to get to Carly. Amy is a transfer student who is interested in Freddie, but whom he shows little interest in bar pleasant friendship - Senior Year, September

**THIS CHAPTER IS SET BEFORE CHAPTER 5**

Enjoy, my precious pumpkins!

* * *

><p><em>They push you to be the best you can be, to strive for greatness, and give you the assurance you need to jump into the unknown, being there every step of the way.<em>

**Senior Year - September (17 years old)**

* * *

><p>"Hey," T-Bo walked up to Carly, Spencer and Gibby, who were sitting at their favourite table in the Groovy Smoothie sharing a couple of Blueberry Blasts, "What's up, guys?"<p>

"Hey T-Bo," Carly replied, putting down her Smoothie to greet their friend properly, "We were just-"

"You guys want to buy some nachos?" T-Bo interrupted Carly, bringing out a stick of nachos from behind his back and waving it in front of their faces.

"Uh, no thanks Teebs," Gibby answered warily, trying his best to avoid the spray of food flying off said nacho stick every time they whipped by his face, "We're good. I need to head off anyway."

"Already, where are you off to, Gib?" Spencer asked, before slurping his smoothie noisily.

"Gibby's got a hot date," Carly teased good naturedly, causing Gibby to smile mysteriously blushing slightly.

"No way, give me the deets!" Spencer leant forward, mostly out of interest in who Gibby's lady-friend of the month was, but also to avoid T-Bo's Nacho Stick of Doom, which had already almost impaled his head twice in the last minute.

"Tasha," Gibby admitted, shrugging one shoulder slightly, "I know we parted ways as friends, but we're going to give it another shot. Nothing can stand in the way of true love."

"What's this I hear about true love?" a new but familiar voice asked, and the trio turned around to see Freddie smiling down at them, despite the heavy bags under his eyes and tired look on his face.

"Hey!" Carly greeted Freddie excitedly, moving up a stool so that he could sit down beside her, "Where have you been? We've hardly seen or heard from you or Sam at all for the past couple of days."

"The apartment has been strangely quiet," Spencer mused, chewing his straw thoughtfully, "You know, I was thinking about getting a pet just to avoid having to live with the empty silence."

"Come on, it hasn't been that long," Freddie replied quickly, after greeting Gibby and Spencer and giving Carly a small hug, "I just had some stuff to sort through. And you know that ever since Sam went all googly eyed over Tony last week the two have been practically joined at the hip."

"Ah yes, Tony," Carly repeated, squeezing her smoothie cup with more force than necessary as she narrowed her eyes, "You know, I really want to like the guy but something about him is just, off."

Freddie nodded, agreeing with Carly's statement about Sam's boyfriend as he felt relieved that it wasn't just him who was wary of Sam's new beau. Up until this point, Freddie had put the churning he felt in his gut whenever Tony and Sam were mentioned down to his suspicion of the guy who had the potential to break his best friend's heart in two, and not for other more confusing reasons to do with the blonde headed demon.

"So is that where Sam is now?" Freddie asked, even though he didn't really want to know the answer, "With Tony?"

"Yeah, I think they went to the mall together a few hours ago," Carly replied, "But didn't she tell you that? I thought you guys talked every day."

Before Freddie could inform Carly that Sam had been fairly distant since hooking up with the six foot tall senor of her dreams, in what he hoped was a less jealous tone then that of the thoughts running wild in his mind, Spencer interrupted him, "They're at the mall? Like, right now? Do you think Sam would go to the pet store for me and get-"

"We're not getting a pet, Spencer!" Carly said warningly, causing Spencer to pout like a child and cross his arms angrily, "Ignore him," Carly told Freddie, gesturing to her sulking older brother, "He's just trying to find an excuse to get a pet, even though he knows nothing in this world will convince me into letting him keep a parrot in the apartment."

"A parrot?" Gibby re-entered the conversation excitedly upon hearing word of the tropical bird, before turning to Spencer in awe, "Dude, that would be awesome!"

"I KNOW, RIGHT?" Spencer replied, and the two of them began a deep discussion about starting some sort of pirate club where all the members could have real live parrots and would wear eye patches all the time.

* * *

><p>"Hey everyone," a quiet voice chimed in from behind Freddie, and the group found themselves spinning around once again to see who it was.<p>

"Oh, hi Amy!" Carly greeted the girl happily, while Freddie responded with a wave, Gibby with his signature, "Gibb-ay," and Spencer with a pleasant but confused, "I don't know you."

"Spencer, Amy is a girl in our class, she just transferred here from Michigan," Carly introduced the two of them, before looking at her watch quickly, "Oh crackers, Spencer, it's almost three; we're going to be late meeting Sarah."

"Who's Sarah?" Freddie asked while Gibby asked Amy is she'd like to join his newly created pirate club, to which she politely declined.

"Spencer's new girlfriend," Carly replied, "and I haven't met her yet, so we're heading over to the museum where she works to say hi."

"Sarah," Spencer sighed dreamily, "You're going to love her, Carls. She's funny and cool and crazy enough to be interesting and do spontaneous things with me, but is also sane enough to not set the kitchen on fire or buy three thousand puppies on the internet and ship them to our apartment!"

"You mean like your last girlfriend, Rita?" Carly shook her head and smiled, as Freddie grinned at them, "I mean, she was pretty Spence, I'll give you that, but apart from that she didn't have that much going for her. I mean, who manages to set the apartment on fire while making a salad?"

"Hey, she was just trying to be nice!" Spencer said, attempting to defend his ex-girlfriend, "How was she supposed to know that you're not supposed to bake a salad in the oven until its golden brown?"

"And the three thousand puppies?" Carly questioned, raising an eyebrow pointedly.

"They were cute and she's not that good with numbers!" Spencer replied in an exasperated tone.

"Come on guys, we've got to split," Gibby said, waving a quick goodbye at Amy before getting up, "I need to get ready for my date."

"Yeah, I heard about that, good luck Gib," Freddie patted his friend on the back and smiled, before turning to Carly, "Have fun with Sarah."

"I will, I'll speak to you later, OK?" Carly replied, "We need to go over some stuff for next week's iCarly."

"Sounds cool, I'll see you later guys." Freddie waved off his friends and Spencer, before turning back around to see Amy still standing beside the table.

"Hey Freddie," Amy greeted Freddie once again, smiling sweetly as she tucked her long red hair behind one ear nervously.

"Hi Amy, how are you?" Freddie asked, gesturing for her to sit down, which she declined.

"I would love to stay, but I've got to get back to my friends, they're waiting outside," Amy explained, looking down at the floor and back up again, "I was just wondering if you were free any time, to catch a movie or whatever. As friends," she added hastily to the end, causing Freddie to smile slightly.

"Yeah, that sounds cool, how about next week sometime."

"Awesome, I'll see you then!" Amy waved goodbye and headed for the door, bumping into a girl with an array of blonde curls and a dreamy look in her eyes.

"Oh, sorry," Amy began, before looking up and realising who she had collided with, "Sam!"

Sam looked at the quickly paling girl in front of her, who had obviously heard tales of the short tempered co-host of iCarly, and shrugged her shoulder, "Don't worry about it, Amy," she said, before walking into the Groovy Smoothie. Slightly confused, but otherwise (surprisingly) unscathed, Amy walked out to meet her friends, turning back one last time to look at Freddie and sighing, as she saw Sam dropping into the seat next to Freddie. Sometimes she didn't even know why she tried with boys who were obviously taken, even if they had yet to realise it themselves.

* * *

><p>"Hey there stranger," Sam greeted Freddie, shoving his shoulder playfully as he looked up and grinned at her.<p>

"Hey yourself," Freddie replied, wondering why his heart had started beating twice as fast in the mere presence of one Miss Samantha Puckett, "How've you been?"

"Good," Sam replied smiling, "Really good, actually." She then noticed the bags under Freddie's eyes and frowned, "You, on the other hand, don't seem too great. What's up with the panda eyes, dude, are you not sleeping or something?"

Freddie's eyes widened slightly, before he attempted to cover up his surprise by shrugging and smiling, "It's nothing, just some construction going on near the Plaza that's keeps waking me up." Changing the subject, he leant forward and smirked, "I'd rather talk about the guy whose been keeping you away from us all for the past week, a guy who's name starts with T and ends with Ony?" Freddie teased, as he tried his best to overcome whatever jealous feelings he had for the guy who had been stealing away the precious time he had with his best friend.

Sam looked up at Freddie, blushing slightly, partly because of his teasing remark but mostly because of how strange the whole situation was for her. A few months ago, she had been questioning her feelings for the very nub sitting before her, wondering if they had the potential for something more than friendship, when out of the blue an extremely good looking guy had asked her out. On a date. A guy with a reasonable GPA and impressive sport skills had asked her, Samantha Puckett, a girl most well known at their school for beating the crap out of anyone who had the audacity to get on her bad side and eating vast amounts of food in record breaking times, on an actual date.

She had been wary at first, mainly because Tony had never even said two words to her before asking her out for dinner and a movie, and also due to the unresolved feelings she had for a certain technical producer of iCarly. A boy who, though she often denied it, meant a great deal to her in more ways than one, and who she didn't ever want to lose because of some stupid hormones that had completely whacked out her brain. So she had shoved any thoughts of Freddie to the back of her mind and said yes to Tony's offer, ignoring the tiny voice inside her head that was telling her it would only end in tears.

So what if she may have found Freddie kind of attractive in the past, that didn't have to mean anything, right? Is was just her girl chemistry messing up her thoughts, and even if she did have, dare she say it, feelings for the dork, which she absolutely didn't, there was no way in hell he would ever feel the same way for her.

In true Puckett fashion, of course, she had her own way of dealing with things that confused her; she hid behind a veil of sarcasm, wit, and anger. Though in Freddie's presence it was more like sarcasm, wit and finding-ways-to-initiate-physical-contact-without-making-things-weird-between-them.

She rolled her eyes at Freddie's remark, punching his shoulder and laughing, "Shut up, Benson, we've only been dating for a week."

"And you've been inseparable for said week!" Freddie replied, smiling at Sam's infectious laugh. Seeing her look this happy made him feel strangely uplifted, even though he still wasn't sure about the source of her joy and his true motives towards her. "You really like this guy, don't you?"

Sam thought about this for a while, crinkling her nose in a way that made Freddie grin like an idiot, as she contemplated his question. Sure, Tony was nice, he seemed pretty decent and liked lasagne, which was a definite plus in her books, but was he really the one for her? Sometimes Sam felt like the only reason she was with him was because he was actually interested in her, because she had found a guy who genuinely wanted to be with her, a guy who made her feel special. But she didn't laugh with Tony until she cried like she did with her friends, and he didn't appreciate a good wrestling match or a Girly Cow marathon like her friends did. He didn't even share her love of fried chicken, nor did he have an interest in slightly nerdy things that she could poke fun at good naturedly, like her friends did. He didn't have a smirk that made her go weak at the knees, or dance moves that made him look both ridiculous and insanely cute and when she stared into his deep brown eyes she didn't forget where she was going or what she was saying; she didn't wish with all her heart that she would just man up and make a move on him before it was too late. No. He didn't have any of these things. Not one.

"Sam," Freddie waved his hand in front of Sam's face, "Come back to me, Sam. You really are in love, aren't you?"

Sam looked up at him and snorted, "Me? In love with a guy who I've known for about a week? Please, Benson, I thought you knew me better than that."

Freddie shrugged, "Well I wasn't the one who just zoned out for five minutes thinking about her new beau."

Sam rolled her eyes again, and attempted to change the subject and distract herself from her mixed up thoughts by jumping to her feet and stretching, "So, you free, Freddimama? Let's go do something."

Freddie nodded, "Sure, but don't you want to see Tony?"

"I've already spent all day with the guy, at the mall, no less," Sam shuddered slightly; if she wasn't going to the mall for the food court or to wander around Build a Bra then what was the point? "And it's not like we're joined at the hip!"

Freddie laughed, "Ok then, let's go to the park, you know, the one with the great ice cream stand and that massive tree that takes a year and a day to climb but is totally worth it in the end because of the view?"

Sam grinned at him wholeheartedly for what felt like her first genuine smile of the day. "Sounds like a plan, Fredman. Let's do this."

* * *

><p>Freddie grabbed his jacket and stood up, as Sam turned around to head for the door, bumping into T-Bo who was still holding his large stick of nachos and offering it to anyone who walked past.<p>

"Ooh, nachos," Sam said as she tried to swipe the stick out of T-Bo's hands, only to be pushed away by T-Bo as he stared at her angrily.

"Hey, these are NOT YO NACHOS!" T-Bo yelled, "Buy the stick, or get the hell out of my restaurant!"

"Come, on Teebs, I don't have any money," Sam began, before Freddie pulled out his wallet and bought the nachos for her without saying a word.

"We appreciate your business," T-Bo smiled, before becoming grave once again, "Now leave, we've got to make room for more customers."

"But T-Bo-"

"OUT!"

Sam and Freddie looked at each other, both of them were struggling not to laugh, and ran out the building, managing to contain themselves until they reached the outside world, whereby they proceeded to laugh so hard they had to lean against each other for physical support.

"I think it was his split personality that did it for me," Freddie admitted, wiping a stray tear off of his face.

"Oh no, it had to be the 'not you nachos' line," Sam reiterated, walking alongside Freddie and bumping into his side amicably as she gnawed on her nacho stick. "Thanks for these, by the way. Mama loves a good nacho stick."

Freddie acknowledged her thanks by smiling, and unfurled his jacket to put it on, the slightly cooler autumnal winds washing over him gently. As he shook out his bundled coat, a large, brown envelope fell out of the inside pocket, something that Sam's eagle sharp eyesight caught before Freddie himself even noticed, and she grabbed it eagerly, wondering what could possibly be inside.

"What's in here, Fredward?" Sam asked, throwing away her now empty nacho stick and wiping her hands on her jumper before pulling out the white papers from the unsealed envelope, "It looks far too prestigious to be hidden in your Galaxy Wars jacket from Webicon."

Freddie's eyes widened as he looked down and patted his coat pocket frantically, before lunging for the envelope in Sam's hands.

"No, Sam, wait-"

But it was too late. Sam had already turned over the large wad of white papers in her hands to see the large logo on the top of the first page and Freddie's neat handwriting trailing down the sheet.

"MIT University?" she murmured to herself before looking up at Freddie and smiling slightly, "Getting in your application early, huh?"

Freddie sighed, and gestured for Sam to follow as he began walking down the street, to which she complied, mainly out of confusion and shock due to unexpected reaction. Why was he so nervous about her discovering this application?

"I mean, I know that you've wanted to go ever since we were kids," Sam started speaking again as she fell into step with Freddie, "But you haven't been talking about it that much recently, and I just thought," she paused, unsure of how to approach what was obviously a sensitive subject, "Actually, I don't know what to think," she nudged his arm, "Talk to me, Freddie."

Freddie looked over at Sam nervously before staring back down at his feet, "I don't know, Sam, I mean, the application came about a week ago and I filled it out as soon as it arrived, but when it came to posting it, I just couldn't." He sighed again, "I'm not even sure if I want to go anymore."

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked disbelievingly, "You love MIT, you've been to every one of their open houses since you were 12, hell, I've borrowed that over-sized MIT hoodie enough times to know how much you love that school."

"But what if I'm not good enough," Freddie asked quietly, staring at the pavement beneath him, "I mean, I like to think working on iCarly would give me an edge, and my grades are pretty good, but I don't know if it will be enough."

Before Sam could say another word, Freddie continued his babbling speech, "And speaking of iCarly, how would we do a show every week with me on the other side of the country? It's a five hour flight from Seattle to Michigan, or a two day drive, we just wouldn't be able to make it work, not to mention you and Carly moving away after graduation. It would tear us all apart, and I'm not going to be the one who does that."

Sam smiled at Freddie, before stopping him as his ever increasing speed made it difficult for her to keep up with him. "If your decision to go to MIT is based solely on whether or not we can carry on with iCarly, I will beat your ass from here to Timbuktu for the rest of your life."

Freddie looked up, shocked at Sam's less than comforting words, only to realise her ability to make him smile in even the most confusing times had already made him feel more relaxed than he had been all week, "MIT was your dream way before iCarly, and it will continue being just that unless you work out what you want," Sam continued, looking directly into Freddie's eyes to try and get her message across, "I know it's going to be hard, to get the grades, to leave home and move all the way across the country, but I believe in you Freddie. If you can run a popular web-show by yourself and make our TV screen swing out 18% times faster and cure a rare eye disease with all your technical know how MIT are going to be begging for you to come to their school. Just you wait and see."

Freddie smiled at her, though he still looked unsure, "And if I'm still scared, of moving away, from my mum and all of you guys; from my family?"

Sam placed her hand on Freddie's shoulder comfortingly, rubbing her thumb against the nape of his neck gently. The mere thought of Freddie moving thousands of miles away from her made her stomach churn and heart ache in ways she could have never imagined possible. Not seeing his face everyday, or spending time together planning new skits for iCarly with Carly and Gibby, having to live without their impromptu trips to the fire escape when one of them felt all hope was lost and the other pulled them off of the edge. She wanted to tell him not to go, to stay in Seattle with her, like she could get into university with the grades she had, but she couldn't. Freddie had to live his dreams, and right now she had to be the friend who reminded him of that. She had to listen to her head over her heart.

"Being scared of the unknown is normal, Benson, but its something we all have to go through," she began quietly, maintaining eye contact throughout as she fought the urge to look away and punch him in the chest for making her feel so damn conflicted, "But if you never try you'll never know what could happen. It might be scary and lonely but at the same time it could be exciting; it could be a whole new chapter in your life. An adventure."

Freddie smiled at her, the right side of his mouth tilting slightly higher than the left to create the crooked smirk Sam had become so accustomed to, "You know, I'm pretty good with the chapter I'm on right now, I mean, its got everything I need, adventure, excitement," a blonde headed demon with fire in her eyes and passion in her heart, he thought to himself wistfully.

"Well, everyone's got to move on some day, Freddicini," Sam slapped him on the shoulder before digging her hands into her pockets, "I mean, I know you're a slow reader, but sooner or later the story's going to start to get a little boring, and you'll have to turn over onto the next page, don't you think?"

"Never," he replied quickly, his tone quiet but strong as his gaze remained fixated on Sam's, "I could live with this chapter for the rest of my life and never ever get bored with it."

We're not talking about MIT anymore, are we, Sam thought to herself wonderingly as her eyes darted from Freddie's lips and back up again to his deep brown eyes. Suddenly, her phone buzzed against her side, making her jump as she fumbled to retrieve it from her pocket.

* * *

><p>"It's a text from Tony," she murmured, more to herself than to Freddie. Tony. Her boyfriend, Tony. The guy who was actually interested in her in a more than platonic way. Tony. "He wants to meet up."<p>

Freddie's face fell slightly, but he replaced his morose expression with a happier one, shaking his head slightly as if he was trying to wake himself up from a dream and gestured for her to go, "Well go on, then, I know you'd rather be off with him frolicking through the fields of love than stuck here with me contemplating the sheer magnitude of my future."

Sam smiled at Freddie's joke, but couldn't help but consider his statement more seriously, coming to the conclusion that her nubby friend, despite his 3.8 GPA and extensive extra credit regime, was wrong. She had felt far happier and more at home with Freddie in the past hour they had spent together than with her whole week with Tony, and though she hated to admit it perhaps being with a guy just because he was available and actually interested in her wasn't enough. She deserved more than that, and so did Tony, because the truth of the matter was that their relationship was not real, and probably never had been. And that had to change.

Quickly tapping away at the keyboard, Sam sent Tony a text before shoving her phone back in her pocket and grinning at Freddie, "I'll see him later, but right now, Freddifer, we are going to talk about this. I mean, I just can't believe you were going to apply to MIT without telling us," Without telling me, she thought to herself quietly, "We tell each other everything, Freddie. We're a team."

Freddie smiled at her, mock punching her chin affectionately, "I would have told you guys, eventually, but I didn't know how to put it into words."

"You seemed pretty eloquent a couple of minutes ago," Sam pointed out, grinning.

"What can I say," Freddie sighed dramatically, "I guess you bring the psycho-babble out of me, Sam."

"Well, I do have an under-graduate degree in psycho babble," Sam joked.

"Oh yeah, didn't I read that paper you got published - 'Confusing people with words that don't exist and phrases that make no sense," by Samantha Puckett?" Freddie asked, smirking as Sam rolled her eyes and grinned back.

Rolling on the back of her heels, Sam looked around their current location, her eyes narrowing as she spotted an object in the distance that made lips upturn slightly as an idea came to her.

"So, back to the application," she looked back up at Freddie, who hung his head back and exhaled heavily, before correcting his stance and nodding slightly, "Do you think you're ready."

Freddie looked down at Sam's hands and tentatively took the large wad of white papers and the brown envelope from her palms, brushing his fingertips against hers gently as he did so. He looked through the papers quickly, before slipping them back into their brown casing and sealing the top, signalling his answer, "Let's do this."

Sam spun Freddie around, and he walked a couple of steps before pausing as he spotted the large, familiar blue mail box in front of him.

"Did you plan this?" he asked in a confused but appreciative tone.

Sam shook her head, "Nope. I guess the universe is just trying to tell you something."

Freddie nodded, holding out the envelope over the dark opening, his hands shaking slightly as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Suddenly, he felt a pair of much smaller hands upon his, and a quiet voice murmur, "On three?"

He squeezed Sam's hands in agreement, and she began the countdown, "Three, two, one…" before the pair of them both let go, causing Freddie's eyes to shoot open as he watched his possible future fall into the dark pit below.

"The deed is done!" Sam clapped Freddie on the back before doing a quick happy dance that made him chuckle, "Quick, to the nearest grocery store for some cheap champagne, or Pepi Cola, whatever we can score, this calls for a celebration!" she continued her over-dramatic joyful tone, pulling Freddie by his arm in the direction of the grocery store.

"I still might not get in, you know," Freddie reminded Sam, as he was pulled into step with her.

"Well at least you have a plan, tech boy. You and Carly and going to jet off to some faraway destination to better yourselves educationally and I'm going to be stuck in Seattle forever," Sam replied in a jokey tone, though she looked down at the ground while saying it, leading Freddie to believe there was some deeper meaning and belief in what she was saying.

"Sam Puckett? Oh no, you'll make something of yourself. You're far too special to stay trapped in Seattle forever," he stated simply, pausing as he waited for Sam to look up at him so he could let her know exactly how he felt, "You are not like other girls, Sam."

"And you say that like it's a bad thing," she chuckled, looking away so she could use her long hair to hide her quickly reddening cheeks.

"No I don't. I say it like it's a wonderful thing."

Darting her eyes back in Freddie's direction in surprise as they walked along the deserted street, Sam realised just how wrong her earlier thought had been. Tony wasn't the only guy who had made her feel special; made her feel like she was actually worth something. Freddie had been making her feel special for as long as she could remember, even while he was still gaga for Carly, he had done some amazing things for her in honour of their ever growing friendship.

So what if Tony wasn't the guy for her, at least she now knew how she truly felt about him and the relationship she had rushed into without considering the many aspects of her confused being. Maybe one day she would get to be with the person she deserved and truly desired, if only she could learn to take her own advice and take a leap of faith into the unknown. Because her adventure was out their waiting for her, if only she would take the risk to get there; if she would learn to ignore her conflicted head and go with what she was feeling in her yearning heart.

* * *

><p><strong>AN** - There we have it, any favourite parts and / or lines? You guys know what to do to make Mama smile... I'm sorry, some parts are kind of soppy, but I was pretty emotional when I wrote this (it was right after watching the latest episode of Sherlock- worst decision ever :P) Next week - Drunk, or rather tipsy, Sam and Freddie. I know, a seriously played out storyline, but I need them to be intoxicated for my evil scheme to work!

I'm not sure how it works in America, but here in England we get our applications to university in pretty early (not that I would know yet, still got a year to go for me on that front!) so yeah, sorry if that part of this chapter was a bit inaccurate.

Thanks so much for reading, update shall arrive at your doorsteps in precisely on week's time. Love ya!

Please Review, Click the Blue!

~ Mim


	11. Chapter 10: Memories and Moonlight

**Summary **- When Freddie is given an essay to write entitled "What is Love?" how will he react when he reads his work aloud to his English class and finally realises how he feels for a certain blonde headed demon?

**Disclaimer** - So I hear they've started production on iCarly's sixth season - YOU GO DAN SCHNEIDER, FOUR FOR YOU DAN SCHNEIDER! This is why I don't own iCarly. Because if I did, it would have crashed and burned a long time ago when I spent the year's budget on filming 5 million fire escape scenes... :P

**A/N - **Hello my beautiful ducklings, how are we all today? iToe Fatcakes was amazing, was it not? Sequins and other such sparkly things for my reviewers, Amanda, mortalimortality, irishfan62, iMaximumSeddie, LyshaLuvsSeddie, asdfghjkl, DannySamLover20, Keirah, Geekquality, Kezziexx, aerolar1, anon.10810, BetterThanGold and akg.517, MY LOVE FOR YOU ALL HAS NO BOUNDS!

Also, special thanks to irishfan62 and aerolar1 for pointing out that MIT is in fact in Massachusetts as opposed to Michigan (which is what I wrote in the last chapter!) *head desk* Sometimes I'm so British it hurts, I'll hopefully change that soon - THANKS GUYS!

Amanda (NEW VIEWSER ALERT!) - Scooby Doo was my life as a child (kind of still is!) hence the reference - THANKS!

asdfghjkl (NEW VIEWSER ALERT?) - No-one's ever made up a word for me before, THANK YOU!

And of course, (seddie is epic 73) my beyond amazing beta, words cannot even begin to describe my thanks to you, so I'll leave it at that! LOVE YOOOUUU!

Previously on 10 Things iHate About You:

Chapter 5 - Sam and Tony dated for a few weeks before she broke up with him, because the only reason he was with her was to get to Carly. Freddie comforts her on the fire escape.

Amy is a transfer student who is interested in Freddie; they went to the movies a few times but only as friends because he wasn't interested.

Peter is Carly's steady boyfriend of now seven months.

Enjoy my lovelies!

* * *

><p><em>And most importantly, they're there for you; when you want them but may not need them, when you need them but may not want them - and most importantly, when the two are combined. <em>

**Senior Year - December (17 years old)**

* * *

><p>"You guys having a good time?" Wendy yelled at Sam and Freddie, who were tapping their feet to the vaguely recognisable dubstep song that had been playing on repeat for the last half an hour; or so Sam assumed as they all sounded pretty much the same to her now aching ears.<p>

"Yeah, great party Wendy," Freddie yelled back, while Sam tried her best not to roll her eyes at the nub's false compliment and finished her third can of Sparks, the cheap but strangely refreshing alcoholic beverage that Wendy had bought for the party in bulk, in one large gulp.

"Well, I've got to go make the rounds, you know, hostess duties and all," Wendy explained, "But I'll see you guys later, ok?"

Freddie waved Wendy off as she weaved in and out of the crowd on her way to the kitchen, before turning back to Sam who had somehow acquired another can of Sparks which she was happily chugging down.

"You want to take it easy on the alcohol intake there, Sam?" Freddie asked, causing Sam to lower the can and throw a sideways glance at him.

"Come on, Fredimamma, I'm just having some fun," she replied, though her speech was slightly incoherent, "And anyway, I've got a high enough tolerance to get through of couple of these low percentage drinks without causing too much damage to my body."

"OK," Freddie answered, though his voice sounded unsure as he glanced from the slowly emptying can attached to Sam's lips to her reddening face, his stomach feeling taut as he refrained from making another attempt to convince her to put the drink down. He knew that Sam could take care of herself, even in an intoxicated state, but his inner Mrs. Benson had started worrying the second she had picked up her first drink.

He shook his head, knowing he shouldn't be feeling this way when basically every party goer, bar him and a few fellow designated drivers were drinking everything in sight, as teenagers were liable to do on New Year's Eve. Even so, he couldn't help but fear for Sam's safety; it was just a part of him that he couldn't get rid of, no matter what anyone said.

Finishing her fourth can and throwing it over her shoulder, Sam turned to Freddie with a smile, only to recognise his concerned and rather bored expression instantaneously and frowning slightly. She knew what that expression meant, that he was worried about her and her less than kosher drinking habits, not to mention the fact that he was bored out of his mind as he was attending the kind of party he hated with a passion.

The pair of them had debated what to do for New Year's Eve for weeks prior to the night, a conversation topic which had initially included Carly and Gibby only for their ever sociable friends to drop out at the last minute. Carly's boyfriend of seven months, Peter, who had been invited to come along with the group, had organised a romantic dinner for two at Pinis, whereas Gibby was bringing Tasha home to formally meet his family, leaving only Sam and Freddie to fend for themselves on the night of new beginnings.

In the end, they had decided to go to Wendy's party, mainly to try and repent for the thousands of trees the girl had cut down to make into flyers advertising the event, even though neither of them were particularly keen on loud music, a room full of sweaty people and the many drunken deeds they would be subjected to over the course of the night. Sam had tried to make the best of their decision, letting the alcohol run free in an attempt to loosen up and enjoy herself a little more, but even she couldn't hide from the fact that they were both having a lousy time.

Nudging Freddie with her shoulder, she smiled and asked, "You want to get out of here?"

Freddie smirked and crossed his arms, "Sounds like you're trying to convince me to come home with you Puckett, but I don't think either of us are nearly drunk enough to do something that stupid."

Sam laughed and shoved him, causing Freddie to stumble into a group of friends who in turn shot some well practised evil glares at him before flouncing out of the room. Freddie turned back to Sam with an unimpressed look on his face, only for her to shrug and begin laughing even harder than before.

"That's what you get for suggesting Mama would do such un-lady like things, Benson," Sam managed to choke out between laughs. Freddie rolled his eyes, but walked over to stand next to her, "Ok then, Lady Samantha, what exactly did you mean by your previous statement?"

Sam became slightly more sombre and began to explain, "Well you're having an awful time here, the only thing keeping me sane is the high levels of alcohol in my blood stream and its only," Sam paused to pull out her phone and check the time, "10:30. How the fat cake are we going to last another hour and a half here, of all places?"

Freddie sighed and nodded, agreeing with her every word, "You're right, I can hardly hear myself think in here."

"So, where to Jeeves?" Sam asked, sticking her phone back in her pocket and crossing her arms expectantly.

"Bushwell Plaza? I mean, we're only on season 2 of our Big Bang Theory marathon," Freddie smiled, before standing up straight and offering Sam his arm, "Shall we, Lady Samantha?"

Sam laughed and accepted his cheesy gesture, all the while ignoring her quickening heart rate and the sweaty feeling on her palms, "We shall," she replied, before leaning in to him and whispering in his ear, "But I think I prefer Princess Puckett, Benson."

* * *

><p>Freddie and Sam walked through the entrance of the Bushwell Plaza, trying their best to ignore Lewbert's drunken slurs about how depressing it is being a doorman on New Year's Eve as they headed towards the elevator.<p>

"Are we really going to be watching The Big Bang Theory and eating bacon sandwiches at midnight?" Sam asked as they stepped into the elevator, leaning against the side as Freddie pushed the button for the eight floor. No mention had been made about bacon, but by this point in their friendship Freddie had assumed that every evening spent with Sam would involve some kind of connection to the much loved meat product.

"We can watch the ball drop if you'd like instead," Freddie replied, referring to the infamous Times Square event that happened yearly.

"Nah, I was never a huge fan of Dick Clark," Sam explained, "No-one can look that good at 80 and not be some sort of cyborg from the future."

Freddie chuckled, before his eyes lit up as a plan formed in his mind, "OK, let's go to the fire escape. We can watch the fireworks and then go back inside to Leonard, Sheldon and the gang, simple as that."

Sam smiled at this suggestion, wondering why the appeal of the fire escape seemed especially fitting for tonight, while simultaneously ignoring the completely obvious answer that was already firmly planted in her mind. "Sounds like a plan, Fredman." And a mighty good one at that.

* * *

><p>"HAPPY NEW YEAR, SEATTLE," Sam screamed as she leaned over the railings of the fire escape, before laughing to herself loudly, "I WISH YOU A YEAR FILLED WITH LOVE AND FAT CAKES!"<p>

"Looks like those four cans of Sparks finally took their toll," Freddie chuckled he pulled her away from the edge and sat her down in the deck chair beside him. He had added this new addition, as well as a small table between the two chairs, to the fire escape a while ago, after Sam had started joining him in his secluded spot more and more often. This in itself was pretty surprising, especially when they had been younger and the only time they spent alone was when Carly left whatever room the three of them were residing in, but what had amazed Freddie the most had been that he had accepted her presence without a word. The fire escape became his and Sam's after they shared their first kiss here a few years ago, an event he wouldn't want to change for the world.

Sam grabbed two blankets from the floor and threw one at Freddie, which he caught and whipped around his shoulders, before wrapping herself in the other and sighing. Suddenly, she jumped; as if remembering a long lost thought, and reached down to pull up her bag from the ground.

"Look what I snagged from Wendy's party," she grinned as she pulled out three more cans of Sparks.

"Come on Sam, you know I don't drink," Freddie raised an eyebrow at her as she shook the can in front of his face gently.

"OK," Sam accepted, causing Freddie to narrow his eyes at her as she wasn't usually one to accept defeat so easily, "I'm not going to force you Benson, because I don't want to be that friend who makes you succumb to peer pressure, but you really need to start living a little. I mean, if not now then when, am I right?"

Freddie looked at Sam, who had now put down the can and was staring up at the sky pensively, the moonlight reflecting off of her golden curls and making her eyes shine even brighter than usual. It was true that Freddie was pretty closed off to new experiences, he himself acknowledged that, but hearing it come from someone else, from Sam in particular, made him start thinking. Was he really that close minded, not open enough to try even a trivial thing like a can of alcohol with a friend? He knew it was illegal and wrong in many other ways, but perhaps that was what being a teenager was all about; trying new things, getting into trouble and learning from his mistakes. With Sam on his side he had already managed to receive a month long detention sentence, 'borrow' a shopping cart for an afternoon and commit various other offences, what harm could the experience of one can of Sparks do to him that those many years with Sam had failed to achieve?

"One drink?" Freddie asked cautiously, causing Sam to look up at him surprise.

"Benson, I was just fooling around, I didn't mean to-"

"No, Sam it's OK. If not now then when, right? I mean, I should probably at least try to find an alcoholic drink I like before college, and if that drink happens to be Sparks then so be it." Freddie explained, more in an attempt to reason with himself than Sam.

"Plus," Sam added, a small smile growing on her face, "You drinking would probably be your mum's worst nightmare."

"Oh no," Freddie corrected her, "My mum finding out I was drinking with you would be her worst nightmare," causing more loud laughter to erupt from Sam.

"One drink," Freddie repeated, as he reached over Sam and grabbed the can from her bag.

"One drink, for New Year's Eve's sake, and then you can hang up your alcoholic tendencies for the foreseeable future." Sam agreed, looking at Freddie's conflicted face with a worried expression on her face. She hadn't meant to do this to him, bring more inconsistencies into his life, but sometimes she couldn't control what came out of her mouth once there was Sparks involved.

Freddie relaxed slightly, opening the metal clip quietly, and as he took his first sip of the cool liquid Sam began cheering loudly and patted him on the back.

"How'd you feel, Benson?" she asked in her best commentator voice.

"Not that different, compared to before," Freddie admitted, though the wrenching feeling of worry in his gut had subsided considerably.

"As it should be," Sam established, "Alcohol can only become a large part in your life if you allow it to do so. I mean, for parties and special occasions its great, but I'd hate to be the sort of person who relied on the stuff, you know?"

Freddie nodded, as he began to gulp down the rest of the can thoughtfully. After a few minutes, he began to feel slightly differently about the liquid he had just introduced into his body, as his head began to spin slightly and he looked back at Sam and grinned. Even though Freddie had only downed one can of the stuff, which he had to admit was pretty good, his low tolerance to alcohol made him feel about as drunk as the blonde headed demon, who had already been through four cans that night.

* * *

><p>"New Year's resolutions," Freddie stated suddenly and quite loudly, startling Sam as she looked over at him once again, "We need to come up with New Year's resolutions. You kick us off, Puckett."<p>

"Well, don't date any more douchebags is pretty high on the list," Sam began, looking down and her hands and laughing slightly to herself despite the small ache she still felt when she thought about Tony.

"I thought you'd gotten over him," Freddie replied in a soft tone.

"Oh I have, believe me I have, but it still hurts sometimes," Sam admitted, looking back at Freddie nervously.

"It's allowed to hurt," Freddie smiled, refraining from the urge to reach over and embrace her comfortingly.

Sam smiled back, glad that she had chosen to open up about her feelings to Freddie two months ago when she had discovered Tony's true intentions towards her, or rather, towards Carly. She knew Tony hadn't been the one, even before she exposed his true colours, and that she deserved better, but the pain of never being someone's first choice hurt. Saying this, however, whilst looking over at Freddie made her realise how many times she had been the first person he had called after receiving big news, or the first person he went to see after going away on a long trip. It made her think how much of his unwavering friendship she took for granted, and just how much time they spent together. After all, she was his number one choice for New Year's Eve, when he could have easily spent it with his train or AV club, or even with his mother at his cousin's house. But no, he had chosen to spend it with her, an action that meant a great to Sam now that she had had time to reflect on this surprising turn of events.

"Well I haven't been doing that well in the dating department either," Freddie joked, leaning back into his deck chair as he attempted to shift the subject to a place where Sam could poke fun at him as opposed to looking sadly at her shoes.

"What happened to Pippi Longstocking?" Sam asked, as she failed to hold herself back from making a more than slightly sarcastic comment about the pretty redhead who had been hanging around Freddie for the past few months.

Freddie smirked at Sam's comment, but pondered her question about Amy for quite some time, the girl who had a pretty smile but no sparkle in her eyes. "She was nice, but," Freddie began, only to find himself staring into a pair of hopelessly familiar cerulean eyes which shot through him like a bolt of lightning. "She wasn't you," he thought to himself, only to shake his head and break the connection as quickly as it had begun. Why tonight, of all nights, was he thinking things like that; he just wanted to yell SHUT UP at his brain as loudly as he could in hopes that it would prevent any further similar thoughts from emerging. It was the alcohol talking, it had to be, he was just new to the drink and had to get used to it without comparing a possible love interest with his best friend. Damn Sparks.

"How about you," Sam asked, bringing Freddie out of his swirling thoughts, "What's your resolution?"

"Live my life." Freddie stated, before his crooked smile lit up his face once again, "I mean, I've already started with that drink,"

"Oh please, you don't need a can of Sparks finest to live your life," Sam scoffed, swooping her legs around off of the deck chair so she was facing Freddie head on, "You're going to live your life to the fullest, I mean next year you'll be off at MIT."

"If I get in," Freddie interrupted her, though he was smiling.

"When you get in," Sam corrected seriously, "I have complete faith in you, young grasshopper, and this time next year you'll be off at some fancy pants smart people New Year's Eve party discussing Keats and the economic decline while I watch the ball drop with Frothy."

Freddie listened to Sam list off the many things she was sure he would achieve in his life, some of which included cure cancer and bring about world peace (the Sparks was not helping her in the exaggeration department) when he realised that spouting of words from a dead poet and eating tiny hors d'oeuvre's wasn't what he wanted for next year. What he wanted was in actual fact the exact opposite.

"Let's start a tradition," Freddie said, cutting off Sam's motivational speech about him becoming the leader of the free world before he turned nineteen as he grabbed her hands and looked at her, "right now. Every year, we come to this fire escape and spend New Year's Eve together, all of us, Carly, Gibby, hell even Spencer, our very own reunion. I know we'll see each other more often that that, but I want to start each year with a bang, and I can think of no better way of doing that than being with the people I love."

Before Sam could question Freddie's most recent declaration of love for her, platonic friendship love thought it was, and register his large hands over her own, Freddie's Pear phone alarm went off, signalling the start of the one minute countdown to midnight.

"Look, fireworks," Sam exclaimed, dragging Freddie to the railings as the bright colours burst against the midnight sky as if attempting to outshine the moon itself, whose glowing face was smiling down at the pair below.

"I guess some people just couldn't wait for the New Year to begin," Freddie mused, grinning down at Sam whose eyes were dazzling brightly at the sight of the sky filling with colours like paint onto a clear canvas.

"New beginnings are a hard thing to come by," Sam replied quietly, looking briefly up at Freddie before staring back at the sky, "I guess for some people it's hard not want a head start when they're so very close."

"To new beginnings, then," Freddie said, as his phone began counting down from out loud, in Dick Clark's voice no less.

"To new beginnings," Sam agreed, staring back up into Freddie's eyes. This situation was what she had been both anticipating and dreading for the past two hours, knowing that she would be in such close proximity to Freddie with high levels of alcohol rushing through her blood stream and with thoughts of New Year's traditions running through her mind. She just hoped to God she didn't do anything stupid while intoxicated, anything to ruin the friendship she couldn't live without.

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1," Dick Clark's voice read out, before loud cheers erupted from Freddie's phone and pre-recorded screams of 'Happy New Year!' buzzed from the speakers.

Freddie looked down at Sam and smiled, his eyes darting from her glowing gaze to her chapped lips, and before he could over think his next move he raised his hand to nudge her chin upwards and leant in to press his lips against her own.

The kiss was very brief, only lasting a few seconds, but it still filled Sam with warmth which spread through her body like a wild fire took her breath away, leaving her longing for more as they broke apart.

"I'm sorry, you know the alcohol..." Freddie murmured, still staring into Sam's eyes before blinking rapidly and shaking his head as the reality of what he had just done crashed over him.

"It can make a person pretty crazy," Sam agreed, seeing the stunned look on Freddie's face as he tried to form words to explain his sudden attachment to her lips. The dazed look in his eyes and the fact that he had experienced his first alcoholic beverage that very night only cemented Sam's belief that Freddie had not meant to kiss her, he had merely been caught up in the moment and didn't know what he was thinking. But instead of giving him hell for it, as she would have done in the past, all she wanted to do was get past their minor discrepancy before things took a turn for the even more awkward. "Don't worry about it Benson, really. It's cool."

Freddie exhaled a long breath of relief as Sam accepted his apology without batting an eyelid, she obviously understood that the kiss had been accidental, a New Year's mishap that had accidentally occurred despite his attempts to hold back the variety of urges he felt around Sam. All that Freddie had to do was convince her that the alcohol played a larger part in their midnight locking of lips than it actually had; he was still sifting through the many emotions he had been experiencing about a certain blonde headed demon and wasn't about to let a drunken escapade ruin their carefully balanced friendship.

Looking up to see the last few fireworks fly across the sky and burst in a haze of colour, Freddie nudged Sam with his elbow and spoke into the night surrounding them.

"Happy New Year, Sam."

She smiled, relieved that her influence on Freddie's alcohol levels hadn't affected what they had, "Happy New Year, Freddie."

After a few seconds of watching the darkening sky before them, Sam asked "OK, so we've done the whole New Year's Eve thing, now can we go watch Sheldon Cooper writhe around in a ball pit?" in an attempt to back track to their usual witty dynamic.

Freddie grinned at her, spinning her around so they could both head for the window and exit the fire escape, which had now held the memory of yet another inadvertent kiss, "I think you just read my mind, Puckett."

* * *

><p>"Open the door quietly; nub," Sam whispered, though she was giggling through the hand she had clamped over her mouth as she leant against the large wooden door frame, "You're going to wake up the whole building!"<p>

The pair had managed to reach Freddie's apartment reasonably unscathed, although sharing another can of Sparks had admittedly been a bad idea as every other word that came out of Sam's mouth lead to loud and uncontrollable laughter from Freddie's, whose brain was only now registering the full effects of the alcohol he had consumed.

Freddie nodded at Sam, trying to keep his laughter at a minimal volume, but was caught out by the small, inadvertently sexy smile that was growing on her face by the second. Being completely distracted by the quirk of her lips, Freddie managed to twist the key in the door and open it without warning Sam, who in turn fell backwards and ended up as a laughing heap on the floor.

"The floor hit me," Sam said in a confused voice as her brain tried to comprehend why she was now three inches from the wooden boards that were usually beneath her feet, "bad floor. You're going to pay for that later, mister."

Freddie laughed and helped her up, switching on the light with one hand and propping her against his body as they made her way across the room, "How about you stop talking to the floor and go visit Mr. Couch instead, hmm?"

"Can I see Mrs. Chest of Drawers, so I can change out of these ridiculous clothes," Sam asked, gesturing to her skinny jeans and fitted top, "I mean these are not suitable TV watching clothes, Fredward. I can't let Mr. Couch see me like this!"

Freddie smiled, and led her to his room so she could grab a pair of his sweat pants and a T-shirt to wear while they continued their highly anticipated television marathon. As Sam mulled over what clothes to steal, Freddie went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and splash some water over his face, hoping this would wake him out of whatever daze had brought about the almost end of his friendship with Sam on the fire escape when his lips had attacked hers with absolutely no warning.

"So do you want to skip straight to season four so we can finish them all by morning, or do you-" Freddie began as he walked back into his bedroom, expecting to find a highly intoxicated Sheldon Cooper quoting Sam only to instead discover her underneath his Galaxy Wars bed sheets fast asleep. He smiled, and walked over to her, looking over at her sleeping form as he brushed some hair away her face before turning to leave.

"Where you going Benson," a voice called out sleepily, and Freddie turned back to find Sa, sitting up slightly and rubbing her eyes in an attempt to wake herself up.

"Mr. Couch is calling to me," Freddie replied jokingly, "he misses our long night conversations, so I thought I'd crash with him tonight."

"Oh," was Sam's response, her brain processing this piece of information carefully before she tentatively carried on, "You know you can stay here, if you want." Freddie raised his eyebrows slightly, causing Sam to blush slightly as she babbled the next part quickly, "I mean, we're basically adults now and friends can share a bed without it being weird, right? Plus you are at least twice the size of that god forsaken couch; you'll probably just squash the thing to death." Sam looked up at Freddie, dreading his reaction whether it be an acceptance or a denial, as she was prepared for neither. She didn't know why she let herself ask such a think, a question that crossed so many of the boundaries she had set in place herself so she wouldn't get hurt, but in a strange way she was glad she did, though that may have been the alcohol talking.

Freddie didn't know what it was that made him do it, whether it be the two cans of Sparks still swimming around in his system or the sight of Sam lying in his bed, her hair tousled in a way that framed her face perfectly and wearing his favourite hoodie, that made him make his way over to her and lie down with her beneath the covers, their arms only just touching.

"Thanks Sam," Freddie whispered to the girl lying beside him, "You have no idea how uncomfortable that couch is."

"If it's anything like Carly's then I think I have a pretty good idea," Sam replied, causing a small laugh to bubble out of Freddie.

"Goodnight, Princess Puckett."

"Goodnight, Fredward Benson."

* * *

><p>Sam woke up early the next morning; feeling disorientated as she tried to establish her surroundings as the events of last night slowly came back into focus. The pair's sleeping positions had changed greatly over the course of the night, as Sam found her head was now resting gently on Freddie's chest and that he has his arms wrapped around her in a warm embrace. Not wanting to move away just yet, as getting up would mean having to return from the real world; Sam chose to listen to Freddie's heartbeat instead, its steady and soothing beat relaxing her as she settled into his embrace. After a few minutes, Sam remembered herself and thought about Freddie's reaction if he woke to find her snuggling into his chest, and decided to slowly inching her way out of his hold and swing her legs round off of the bed. She looked down at his sleeping face, so peaceful and blessedly innocent about the world around him and smiled. Glancing at the clock on Freddie's bedside table she saw that it was almost 8; Crazy would be home soon and Sam realised she should probably leave before Freddie's mum got home to see a scantily dressed Sam leaving her Freddie bear's room. Standing up from the bed as quietly as possible, Sam tiptoed over to her clothes from the night before and quickly changed, taking the hoodie she had borrowed up in her arms and smelling it one last time, allowing the sweet scent of cinnamon to entrap her as she grabbed her shoes from the floor and crept towards the door. She paused, as a thought ran through her mind, and walked back over to Freddie's desk to write him a quick note, before running over to the bed and slipping it onto the pillow where she had slept. She looked down at the sleeping nub below her, and brushed the hair out of his eyes, before tweaking his nose gently and turning around to leave for good.<p>

Freddie woke up about an hour later, as he turned over and laid his arm across an empty space where Sam should have been. Opening his eyes slightly to see make sure his mind wasn't playing tricks on him, Freddie found that Sam had indeed gone, leading him to sit up and rub the sleep out of his eyes whilst yawning and stretching simultaneously. Looking over at the Sam shaped hole next to him, Freddie felt an odd longing sensation he hadn't expected, as well as a dull headache that he assumed would only get worse as the day went on. She probably didn't want to stay, Freddie thought to himself as he tried to decipher why she had left without saying goodbye, her decision last night must have been a drunken one and now she was regretting inviting him to share a bed with her.

Leaning over the check the time, Freddie's felt something crinkle beneath his hands, and pulled out a piece of paper which had been placed on top of the pillow and had something scrawled across it. "Thanks for the company last night, Fredweird," he read, a smile lighting up his face as he recognised the handwriting almost immediately, "And for the large hunk of ham I'm about to steal from your fridge. Oh, and the large amount of pain relieving drugs which I am sure will be in your mum's oversized first aid kit. For everything." Then, to end with a flourish, the writer of the note had scribbled 'Princess Puckett' at the bottom of the sheet and drawn a quick picture of her and the ham skipping off into the sunset.

Freddie grinned, and leant back to his side of the bed to re-read what Sam had written to him multiple times over before sticking the note into a photo frame he had beside him of the two of them pulling a face at the camera. Stroking his finger across the embodiment of Sam's face, Freddie mused over the past twelve hours the two of them had shared together, because even though it may not have started off with a bang he was pretty sure it was one he would be able to recall for a long time to come. Sure, he had the future to think about, MIT and a life separate from those he loved, but for the time being he was just glad he had been given the chance to share one more night with Sam, happy for what she brought into his life and for what they shared in the most confusing, spontaneous, completely rewarding friendship he had ever been proud to be a part of. For everything.

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><p><strong>AN **- Thoughts? Favourite Lines? Let me know by clicking the doobily doo! For a "Sam" chapter this was pretty Freddie based, but oh well, I guess he's just easier to write.

By the way, I am in no way endorsing or encouraging anyone to drink alcohol, as a minor myself who barely leaves the house I am not one to persuade you to do anything like that, but I just thought Sam and Freddie needed to lose their inhibitions slightly in this chapter, hence the introduction to alcohol. JUST SAY NO, KIDS. That is all from Mim's after school special for today… :P On a related note, does anyone know what Sparks is? I basically Googled 'canned alcohol,' and that was the first result that came up, so yeah.

Thanks so much for reading, next week will be the Epilogue and thus the end of this fic - I am both extremely excited to write the finale and really sad that its ending! See you guys in a weeks time, love you forever!

Please Review, Click the Blue!

~ Mim


	12. Epilogue

**Summary **- When Freddie is given an essay to write entitled "What is Love?" how will he react when he reads his work aloud to his English class and finally realises how he feels for a certain blonde headed demon?

**Disclaimer - **Dan Schneider and Nickelodeon own iCarly, not little old me, and thank the stars they do because if they didn't then there would have been no inspiration for this fic, which has been so much fun to write!

**A/N** - So here we are guys, the last chapter of 10 Things. *Breaks down in tears* No, it's cool, I'll get through this... For the final time, hugs and kisses and ponies and everything else I have ever promised to my reviewers, DramioneForever123, irishfan62, Keirah, mortalimortality, pinkworlds, loveseddie94, manic221, .Silence (FOUR FOR YOU, GIRL!) Geekquality, LoveB, G, LyshaLuvsSeddie, DannySamLover20, anon.10810 and DorkyBlonde, I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! I also reached the 150 review mark this week, which is AMAZING, so a huge thank you to anyone who has ever commented and reviewed my fic in the past, reaching this mark before posting my final chapter means so much to me!

G - (NEW VIEWSER ALERT) - Thank you! And I love the TBBT ball pit episode is hilarious!

Check out the extra special A/N at the end for a special farewell, but for now, enjoy!

Previously on 10 Things iHate About You

Introduction - Sam and Freddie's English teacher asks the class to write a piece based on the idea "What is love?" Essay / Poem etc…

HOPE YOU LIKE IT!

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><p><strong>Senior Year - February (18 years old) : 3 days after the Introduction<strong>

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><p>Sam paced up and down her room anxiously, a task that was made a lot harder due to the masses of clothes, food leftovers and other unidentified objects littering the floor. Sitting down onto her unmade bed, Sam closed her eyes and shook her head as if trying to expel the one question that had been plaguing her mind all weekend. A question that wasn't food or web-show related, no, all she could think about was a piece of freaking homework assigned by her English teacher two days ago. Homework! Something was definitely wrong with her, and anyway, how was she supposed to know how to answer the question "What is love?" without mentioning fat cakes or honey glazed ham?<p>

Looking around her room in an attempt to distract herself from her own thoughts, Sam caught sight of a photo she had wedged into the side of wardrobe, a photo taken so long ago that she had forgotten what was even on it. Getting up to take a closer look, she realised what, or rather who, was sharing the frame with her. She quickly plucked the photo out of its hold and she smiled at the sight of her and her favourite nub pulling funny faces at the camera. Wandering back to her bed and sitting down carefully, Sam stared at the photo and furrowed her eyebrows slightly, letting her mind trail back to some of her previous thoughts and unanswered questions. She let her finger brush gently against Freddie's face, smiling yet again, only to shake her head and throw the photo down angrily as she felt her heart beat speed up ever so slightly, all because of the mere thought of her nerdy best friend. For as long as she could remember she had been burying her confused feelings about Freddie deep down, hoping that over time the sweaty palms and butterflies whirling around in her stomach every time he was near would just disappear, but in the past few weeks she had been finding it harder and harder to ignore what she knew to be true.

Thinking back to the question of the day, she couldn't help but make the small yet possibly life changing connection between the two. Could it really be possible? Was she actually, dare she even think it, in love with the nub? No, she shook her head and scoffed at the idea, that couldn't be right, after all their years of bickering and fighting there was no way she was in love with him. All the days they had spent together arguing and teasing, shoving and laughing, crying and comforting. Just thinking about the countless times they had spent in each others company made Sam smile; the thought of his warm eyes upon her; the sight of his crooked smirk teasing her; the feel of his burning lips pressed against her own. Her smile dropped as quickly as it had formed. Oh. Crab.

Acceptance flooded through her as she let go of the breath she had been holding in for the past two years, possibly even more. She had fallen for the nub; the geek next door, the technical whizz kid himself. The nerdy, funny, amazing boy who had promised his mother a long time ago to never steal had successfully and inadvertently stolen her heart. And she had absolutely no idea what to do about it. Collapsing down onto her bed in an attempt to somehow fix her sudden light headedness, Sam felt something poke into her back uncomfortably. Reaching her hand underneath her, she pulled out a plastic DVD case; it was some 90's chick flick she borrowed from Carly about a year ago (she had only taken it because Heath Ledger was in it, aka the hilariously terrifying Joker in the Dark Knight.) Her eyes flicked over the title uninterestedly, until a sudden burst of inspiration flew through her like a cool wind on a summer's day. If she couldn't explain her feelings for Freddie by sifting through them in her mind, perhaps she could better decipher them once they were on paper. Then, before she could change her mind, Sam jumped up from her bed, got out a crumpled piece of paper from her school bag, grabbed her 'I 3 Meatballs,' novelty pen, and began to write.

* * *

><p>"Hey Sam," Freddie called out to his favourite blonde headed demon as she shut her locker and turned away from him, walking away in the opposite direction.<p>

"Hey," Freddie finally caught up to her after running behind her down the hall and pulling on her arm to make her turn around, "I'm not on the track team, so stop making me run! Did you not hear me?"

Sam shrugged and pulled away slightly as they fell into step with each other, avoiding physical body contact as best she could, and eye contact as though his gaze contained spoilers for the last episode of Lost. How else was she supposed to act around the boy she loved, the boy who could never know her true feelings because it would rip their friendship in two?

"You OK?" Freddie asked in a concerned voice as they dawdled in the direction of their English class.

"Yeah fine," Sam replied, keeping her gaze fixed firmly upon the floor and breathing in time with her footsteps. Left foot. In. Right foot. Out. And repeat until she was out of the vicinity of Freddie's watchful eyes.

"You don't look so good; did you eat some more expired Persian chocolates?" Freddie asked jokingly, though the worry in his voice seeped through.

"Probably," Sam answered quickly, hoping to get into their English classroom before he asked any more questions. This was the exact opposite of how she wanted things to be between them, but how could she behave as though nothing had changed when everything she had once been so sure about was now a confusing mess?

Freddie didn't buy Sam's monosyllabic answers, knowing that something was wrong, but instead of pushing her to reveal what she was hiding he opted for a sympathetic shoulder squeeze in hopes of showing her that he cared. At the feel of Freddie's warm hand upon her shoulder, Sam spun around; her eyes wide as she shrugged him off and pushed him away as quickly as she could. By doing this, Freddie's hand fell through the air and brushed against hers, causing a spark of electricity to flow between the pair. This in itself wasn't surprising to Freddie, as he become accustomed to these inexplicable sparks, which only ever occurred around Sam, but as he looked into her fearful eyes he realised that today, something was different. Did she feel it too?

Looking into Freddie's eyes just after their hands collided; Sam noticed that he looked just about as shocked as she felt. Had he felt it too? Had he felt it all the times before, and just ignored them as she had done?

Hearing the ring of the bell made the pair snap out of their intense staring contest, and this time it was Freddie who walked away, murmuring, "We should get to class," to a thoroughly confused Sam. She nodded, though he couldn't see her, and followed, even though the thought of suffering through an hour of _Romeo and Juliet_ made her want to kill herself; if they couldn't even make it to the end of the play why should she have to?

* * *

><p>"Good morning class," Miss Jones greeted the pupils as they settled down into their seats, "I hope you all have your pieces ready to present to the rest of the class."<p>

Sam sighed heavily and rested her head against the desk, as she remembered that the piece of work she had actually completed was due in today. She wished that instead of having to listen to her classmates express their thoughts on love she could just be at Carly's house eating a bucket of fried chicken and watching Girly Cow. Oh, and if wishes were being granted free of charge, that she wasn't completely in love with her best friend, who only liked her platonically and would never date her. Yeah, that would be nice too.

"Anyone want to go first?" Miss Jones asked, her only response being thirty heads turning to look at anything in the room but her, "Ok, then, how about I pick someone out a random." Closing her eyes, Miss Jones waved her finger above the list of names before her and stabbed at the paper randomly, "Wendy. You'll be starting us off today."

A collective sigh was shared across the room as Wendy cursed quietly to herself before getting up and reading her homework, a poem entitled, "To my beloved James, with love."

As each person was called up to read their pieces of work, Freddie began to worry that he had completed the assignment incorrectly, after realising that everyone else in the class had based their work on someone in their lives, a boyfriend or girlfriend, parent, sibling, hell even a pet goldfish (a poem that was surprisingly not written by Gibby.) Clutching his paper anxiously, he prayed to fate that his name would not be called up next.

With only five minutes left to go, Freddie felt as though he was on the home stretch, that he had almost made it to the end, all he had to was last a little while longer and-

"So I guess we have time for one more. Freddie Benson, you're up," Miss Jones called out, interrupting Freddie's thoughts. Not believing his luck, Freddie slowly got up out of his seat and made his way to the front of the class. Fate was certainly no friend of his.

Freddie cleared his throat, and held out his piece of paper, looking over to Miss Jones for confirmation to begin. She nodded and smiled, leading Freddie to breathe in deeply and read what he spent all of Friday night and most of the weekend perfecting.

"_When you love someone, you'd do anything for them, even if it's completely crazy - you do it because you care and want them to be happy," _Freddie began, looking around the class nervously before carrying on, "_They drive you mad sometimes, and can do the unforgivable, but you come around eventually because you can't bear to be without them, and sometimes they really are just doing it for your own good; even if you couldn't see it at the time. You accept them for who they are, proverbial warts and all, and even thought they're not perfect you don't want to change a single thing about them. Because you know they are truly beautiful - inside and out._

_You know, they say time apart can make a love grow stronger - but its hard being away from them in the first place because you miss them so much. In the end, you put up with their crazy times, laugh with them in the happy times and comfort them during the sad times, because you know they'd do exactly the same for you._

_And how do you know when someone loves you?_

_They defend your honour, stick up for you when you're too afraid to do it yourself and help you gain the confidence to be a better person someday. They know you better then you know yourself, an aged cliché, I know, but it's true, and they never fail to surprise you with each dawning day. They care about you and your well being, giving you strength in times of need, and though they don't always show it, you know how they truly feel deep down._ _They push you to be the best you can be, to strive for greatness, and give you the assurance you need to jump into the unknown, being there every step of the way. _

_And most importantly, they're there for you; when you want them but may not need them, when you need them but may not want them - and most importantly, when the two are combined."_

Freddie paused to take a breath, before looking up and accidentally catching Sam's eye, who had been staring intently at him since he began talking. Freddie smiled at her briefly, the right side of his mouth quirking up higher than the left, before his eyes returned to the paper in front of him to carry on.

"_The phenomenon of love is a hard thing to describe. It's not something that can be carefully calculated, or measured in a scientific way. It is a feeling, a pure emotion that people all over the world recognise; a sensation so strong that it can take your breath away and at the same time breathe the very being of life into you._

_Because love in itself is not the magical thing - it's the person who you are in love with that makes every moment worth living for, every laugh worth sharing and every kiss more wonderful than the last. When you find that person, never let them go, because true love is a rare and beautiful thing that is hard to find. Sometimes it comes from the most unexpected places, with the most unexpected person, and with others you may not even realise that it's been staring you right in the face for as long as you can remember."_

Freddie trailed off the last sentence slowly, his eyebrows furrowing as the cogs in his mind whirled, before his eyes snapped up from the page and he looked directly at Sam. Ever since he had started working on this essay two days ago he had convinced himself that it wasn't based on anything or anyone in particular, a fact which he had only just realised was completely false. In reality, his subconscious had been in control since Friday afternoon and had used the power of the written word to try and force him to open up and acknowledge the feelings he had been hiding from for the past year. His eyes jumped from Sam back to his essay as he skimmed over what he had written, smiling as each sentence reminded him of a memory so vivid and clear that he couldn't believe he hadn't realised it before. This essay wasn't about the meaning of love or his general ideas on the matter at all. It was about Sam. His blonde headed, his ham eating, prank pulling princess. His true love.

Looking up from the page at Sam again, Freddie cleared his throat and began speaking, adlibbing the last part of his essay instead of reading the brief closing line he had prepared, while keeping eye contact with the girl of his subconscious dreams.

"_That's why I know I'll always take a chance on love," _he began, his tone strong and clear, "_because I'd rather live a life filled with oh well's than what if's. So take the plunge today; you never know what's going to happen unless you try; for all you know she could be the one and you could let her slip right through your fingers. What I guess I'm trying to say is don't let love slip away from you, no matter what the cost, because you'll regret it forever if you do. Thank you."_

* * *

><p>Freddie's last words hung in the air gently as he and Sam continued to stare at one another, before the last bell of the day rang through the school, causing the pair to snap out of each others' gaze as the rest of the class began to pack up.<p>

"Amazing work today, everyone," Miss Jones called out, before turning to Freddie separately and speaking softly, "Especially you, Freddie. That was some pretty powerful stuff."

Freddie shrugged and smiled slightly, "I've got a pretty powerful muse."

With a twinkle in her eye, Miss Jones gestured for him to leave, "Go and get her then. No regrets, remember?"

With those words of wisdom, Freddie nodded and handed his teacher his essay before slipping past his crowd of class mates to get to Sam's desk. When he reached her seat, however, she had already gone; a lone pencil and half eaten fat cake being all that remained of her presence.

Freddie cursed to himself before grabbing his bag from his seat next to Sam's desk and running out of the classroom after her. Spinning around as he headed down the hallway, Freddie spotted a mass of blonde curls speed walking down the hallway, looking behind her every few seconds. Freddie refrained from calling out to her, not wanting to spook her any further, and dodged through the people in the hallway to catch up with her. Just as Sam was almost at the door, Freddie yelled out her name loud enough for a number of people to turn and stare at him in a confused manner.

"Sam!" he called again, "Wait, please!"

Sam spun around, her eyes widening as she saw Freddie before they darted from side to side until she found another exit, which she quickly ran through.

She realised her fatal error a second too late, as she found herself trapped in the courtyard, which only had one entry point, Sam began looking around for an open window which she could crawl through to re-enter the school.

"Sam, would you please stop. We need to talk," Freddie had caught up to her, closing the door behind him.

"There's nothing to talk about nub," Sam replied, as she continued looking around her for an escape route. You pretty much covered it all in that essay of yours; she thought to herself, a thought that made her heart ache in a way she could have never imagined and stomach churn in a horribly familiar way. All she knew was that she couldn't face Freddie after hearing all he had said in the god damn essay, while staring at her no less, without pouring her heart out, and she just didn't know if she was ready for that.

"This is ridiculous, you can't keep running, Sam. Sam!" Freddie reached forward and grabbed the back of Sam's shirt, pulling her backwards before spinning her around to face him. Chiz. The only flaw in her otherwise brilliant escape plan, ok, one of the many flaws; she had forgotten how strong the nub had gotten in the recent years, or had rather blocked it from her memory so as to stop daydreaming about him in class.

"Will you please just talk to me, or at least listen," Freddie asked, trying to catch Sam's gaze, which she was purposefully keeping away from him, "You heard what I said in my essay, what it meant. I mean, I didn't even know what I was trying to say when I was writing it, but I know now, and so do you." He squeezed her shoulders gently, an action that made Sam close her eyes as she fought harder and harder to keep what she was feeling locked away inside. "I need to know what you're thinking, if you're feeling the same thing that I am, because if you're not then I'll just leave right now and never bug you again. But if you are…"

Freddie trailed off, a hopeful look in his eyes that Sam couldn't help but return as she fell deeper into his gaze knowing full well that there may not be anyone to catch her at the bottom. She slowly stepped back from his hold, an action that made Freddie fear for the worst until she reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, which she looked down at and unfolded, smoothing out the creases.

Freddie quickly connected the dots as Sam licked her lips nervously and cleared her throat, "You did the assignment?" he asked quietly, though his usual teasing tone could be heard.

Sam looked at him, smiling sadly, as she held back a sarcastic comment and mimed for Freddie to be quiet, to which he happily complied. Taking a deep breath, Sam held up her piece of paper, preparing herself mentally as she got ready to unleash the feelings she had been holding back for far too long.

"_10 things I hate about you,"_ she began, causing a small chuckle to stir out of Freddie. Sam raised a single eyebrow in his direction, and Freddie became sombre once again, miming the action of locking his lips and gesturing for her to continue.

* * *

><p><em>I hate the way you dress in stripes<em>

_and the way you style your hair,_

_I hate your stupid nerd equipment,_

_I hate it when you stare._

_I hate the way you make a pizza_

_and those dorky games you play,_

_I hate the way you make me smile_

_with everything you say,_

_I hate your crazy psycho mum,_

_I hate it when you're right,_

_I hate it when you're mad at me_

_I hate it when we fight,_

_I hate it when you're not around,_

_and the way you've made me fall,_

_But mostly I hate the way I don't hate you_

_Not even close, not even a little bit, not even at all.__"_

* * *

><p>Sam's eyes darted up to look at Freddie before her gaze flew back down to the floor, her hands folding up the paper and sticking it back in her pocket as she felt more relieved and nervous than she had done in a very long time. Freddie mouth opened to respond to the revealing and heartfelt speech that he had just been subjected to, but his brain had trouble forming the words he desperately wanted to say. He was speechless, amazed at how Sam had managed to combine her wit and sarcasm as well as the emotions she had been holding back into a single poem; a poem! Of all the ways he could think of Sam proclaiming her feelings for another he had never imagined it would be in sonnet form. Grinning at the girl before him, who was still staring at the floor and playing with the hem of her shirt instead of trying to explain herself any further, Freddie knew from the bottom of his heart that she felt the same way as he did, and feeling as though no power in the universe could stop him he stepped forward to pulled her towards him, closing his eyes and leaning down so he could press his lips against hers.<p>

Sam felt a wave of warmth come over her as she felt Freddie's lips against her own, washing away months of uncertainty and confusion as her eyes fluttered shut and she reached her arms up around the back of his neck to pull him in closer. With this gesture, Freddie smiled into the kiss and wrapped his arms around her tiny waist in an attempt to hug their already melded figures even more tightly together. Years of pent up passion and emotion flooded out in a single moment, as the kiss became more heated and the pair more daring. Sam ran her hands across the nape of Freddie's neck and then up through his hair as he ran his tongue against her bottom lip, causing all of her inhibitions to fly out of the proverbial window as she returned the favour with much enthusiasm. Freddie's fingers became a tangled mess in Sam's unkept curls, but that didn't stop him from twirling them through the blonde tendrils again and again as she grabbed onto his neck even tighter.

Slowly the pair began to dial back as the need for oxygen became greater by the second, reluctantly pulling apart before resting their foreheads against one another as they tried to catch their breath. Catching each others eyes after a few minutes of comfortable silence, they laughed, their breathing still uneasy, and stood up to face each other, Sam's arms still draped across Freddie's neck and his around her waist. Unable to look anywhere but at the girl in front of him, Freddie studied Sam's flushed face and indescribable smile before noticing a spark in her eyes that he had never seen before. A spark the bore right into him and ignited a million more emotions that he could never have imagined.

"Sam, I-" Freddie began, unable to hold back the words that he had wanted to say ever since he had realised how he had felt back in their English classroom.

"Don't say it, Fredward," Sam interrupted, though her voice was low.

"But Sam-" Freddie's eyebrows furrowed as he tried to deduce what was wrong. Didn't she want this?

"Don't." Sam's tone was harsher than before, though Freddie could almost swear she was on the verge of begging for him to refrain from continuing.

"I can't hide it any more; we shouldn't have to hide it if we both know how we feel-"

"One more word, nub, and I swear to God, I will kick you so hard in your family jewels you'll become infertile," Sam replied in a threatening, but joking tone as she backed away from Freddie's hold.

"What are you so afraid of?" Freddie asked, refusing to back down as he walked back up to her and pulled her into an embrace, stroking her hair out of her face.

"Everything," Sam whispered into his shoulder, letting her insecurities show for once in her life.

Freddie drew back and tilted Sam's face upwards so she could look at him properly, hoping he could bring across what he was trying to say with his eyes as well as his words, "You have got nothing to be afraid of Sam, at all. I know this is scary, telling each other how we feel, but don't you see how amazing it can be? We can be together, finally, despite our naturally stubborn natures and fear of the unknown keeping us apart for so long."

"But it's going to change everything;" Sam interjected quietly, "The things that we used to do without even thinking will have a whole new meaning behind them. What if being together means we have to lose what made us so great in the first place?"

Freddie smiled and brushed away a wisp of her hair from her face, "We could never lose what makes us great, Sam. We'll still tease each other, and laugh at each other's stupid jokes and argue about idiotic things. We're going to argue a lot. But that makes us who we are, and I wouldn't want to change that for anything. Sure, there may be a few bumps in the road but we'll get through them, just like we've done in the past.

"And what about when you go off to college, and I leave to pursue whatever dreams I might have by the time we graduate," Sam asked, smiling slightly, "What happens then?"

"I don't know what my future holds, Sam" Freddie murmured, "I don't know if I'll get into MIT, or if I'll even get the grades I need to go to whatever college will have me. But I do know that whatever may happen, whether I go to college or work or go running off into the mountains to be a goat herder, I want you to be a part of it. We can do the long distance thing, I'll set up a video chat channel and call you everyday, hell, I'll even find a part time job and save up every last dime if it means I can afford to come visit you in the holidays. We can make this work, no; we have to make this work, because I can't live without you, Sam."

Sam looked up at Freddie and smiled, getting lost in the pair of eyes that had become so familiar to her. The fear she had felt before was slowly melting away, as Freddie's words reassured her that maybe, just this once, everything would work out alright in the end. They wouldn't have to change who they were or what they were planning to do to be able to progress to this next step in their life, because by doing that they'd sacrifice what they had worked so hard to build in the first place. They could make this work.

* * *

><p>"I love you," Freddie's words came out in a single breath as he continued to gaze down at Sam, sounding not like a grand gesture or over thought exclamation but as a pure statement that couldn't be more obvious or true, one which came straight from the heart.<p>

Sam inhaled quickly, taking in this information as best she could as she half smiled up at Freddie, "You're really jumping straight in there, aren't you buddy,"

"Sam-" Freddie began with a warning tone, though his eyes were sparkling.

"I mean, the least you could do is buy me dinner first, get to know me a little better," Sam added, reaching her arms back around Freddie's neck so she could swing gently against the cool breeze. Her comfortable smile and teasing comments let Freddie know he hadn't scared her away with his proclamation, letting his mind and heart rest easy as he started talking.

"I do know you," he interrupted, causing Sam's eyebrows to jump up in surprise and delight, "better than I could have ever known or possibly imagined. It was all up there in that mixed up brain of mine; I just had to find it."

"Probably hiding behind all the Galaxy Wars trivia you've got locked away up there," Sam teased, causing Freddie to gasp in false shock before shrugging his shoulders in acceptance.

"Probably," Freddie admitted, causing Sam to laugh so hard she had to lean against him to stop herself from falling over.

"So who was the original director? And the second movie, where was it filmed? And-" Sam's teasing continued as she laughed gleefully, causing Freddie to roll his eyes good naturedly before leaning in to silence her with a kiss; a kiss so short and sweet that it left them both yearning for more as it ended.

"Freddie," Sam began, her voice so quiet and unsure Freddie immediately recognised what she was about to prematurely do.

"You don't have to say it if you don't want to, Sam. If you're not ready," Freddie interrupted quietly, letting her know with the mere tone of his voice that he wasn't expecting anything in return for what he had said.

"I want to," Sam replied, her voice more confident than before, "I'm just not that great-

-with the words, I know," Freddie finished her sentence, making Sam smile as she realised he knew exactly what to say when she was so used to tripping over her words.

"But I do," Sam added, accenting each word heavily as she stared up at Freddie with that same spark in her eyes that he had tried so hard to decipher, "I want you to know that. I do."

Freddie's crooked smile lit up his face as he pulled her closer into his embrace, finally realising what Sam was trying to tell him in her less than traditional way, "I do too."

"Give me some time. I'll get there," she joked, breathing in the scent of his jacket and hoping it would stay with her forever.

"Take all the time you need, Princess Puckett," Freddie murmured to her, "You know I'd wait forever and a day for you.

"OK, what sappy rom-com did you steal that from?" Sam pulled away and looked up at Freddie as she snorted at his cheesy line, to which he laughed and smacked her on the shoulder lightly.

"I didn't steal anything! That was from the heart, Puckett!"

"Yeah yeah…" Sam replied, as Freddie drew her back to him and kissed her temple lovingly, squeezing her tightly and knowing he would never let her go.

As the newest iCarly couple continued to tease each other, answering each witty remark with another clever comment, and every once in a while, with a kiss, we are reminded of what had led them to this new path of their lives. In some it all came back to that essay question, which in a way had succeeded in doing what years of furtive glances and less than subtle nudges from their best friend Carly had failed to do; bring them together. And when you think about it, the question asked was a hard and though provoking one indeed; what is the true definition love? For Freddie it was a number of things; strength, hope, and the belief that a single emotion could conquer all others in an implausible way. For Sam it was allowing herself to open up and express what she was truly feeling, it was someone being there for her when she needed them the most and, in a weird way, hate. Yeah, in Sam's own warped sense of the world those two words were pretty interchangeable.

Love was helping a friend in need, whether they wanted to be helped or not, it was seeing the beauty and talent in others when they were too blind to see it themselves. Love was finally opening their eyes and realising what had been right in front of them the whole time; it was holding on tight and never letting anyone or anything get between them. It's a pretty hard thing to define, love, but for Sam and Freddie all they needed to know was that they could find it in each other. It was when two things that no-one would even think to put together ended up having the strongest bond of all. Love was Sam and Freddie, as simple as that. And they wouldn't want it any other way.

* * *

><p><strong>AN** - So there we have it, and then they rode off into the sunset on horseback... :P Or did they? (They did... unless anyone wants a follow up story? About what I have no idea, but you know...)

Before I forget, I also don't own 10 Things I Hate About You, an awesome film from the 90's that you guys should check out if you haven't already (I also referenced it quite a lot in this chapter, so I hope everyone understood the choice of the title!)

Message me if you guys have any cool prompt ideas, or just to fangirl about iCarly and other things in general, I will be uploading again the future but I don't really have any ideas right now, so for the moment this is goodbye.

(Insert sappy HP7 reference here, because J.K Rowling is my everything):

Like this story, my gratitude is split into ten parts: to my family for not questioning why I would scream out 'fat cakes' and then spend the whole evening in my room typing away furiously and to my friends for not asking what I think about when daydreaming in class (Seddie of course!) Most of my gratitude has to go to (seddieisepic73) the best, most beautiful, amazing beta and friend in the world - for the constant support, love, and help with millions of grammatical errors, without her this story would be a complete mess and I will be forever grateful, I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! To Forwoodx3, my honey boo boo, she knows why...

To Nickelodeon, for paying for the show, to Dan Schneider for creating the show and to the hilarious cast for making iCarly as amazing as it is (especially Jennette and Nathan, who made me fall in love with Seddie in the first place!) To anyone how has story alert-ed or favourite-ed, I love you guys, and more importantly to anyone who has reviewed, because each and everyone has made me smile and feel so loved in this amazing community.

And to you, if you have stuck with Seddie until the very end. Peace, love and Seddie forever, guys, see you on the flip side.

~ Mim


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